Yep, like a green smoothie but for winter!
Possibly the most healthful, nourishing, restorative thing you can make - and delicious too.
I found this recipe on Adriene Mishler's site - she of Yoga with Adriene that I love so much and can't stop going on about - I love my almost-daily yoga practice and how it makes me feel.
Her 31-day yoga challenge is a great place to start if you want to try making yoga a part of your life too.
But enough yoga, and back to the soup.
I simplified the recipe slightly and added a spoon of creamy Greek yogurt - but you could just leave this out of course.
This is a seriously good soup - it sounded just what I needed when I woke up with swollen glands and a sore throat - and it was ... but I wasn't expecting it to be so utterly delicious too.
Definitely a new favourite for me!
As you'll need a food processor (or blender) to blend the soup at the end, you might as well use it to chop everything and make this super-fast to prepare too.
No need to wash it in between chopping the onion and the vegetables, and then I just gave it a quick rinse in cold water before using to blend the finished soup.
Here's the ingredients for a good big pan of soup ...
1 onion
a teaspoon of light olive oil or other cooking oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 large courgette
3 stalks of celery
Water, freshly boiled from the kettle
1 vegetable stock cube
1-1.5 teaspoons white pepper (I love white pepper!)
a good handful of broccoli - and another of asparagus
2 big handfuls of spinach leaves or kale, something dark green and leafy anyway
Salt, to taste
Put the kettle on to boil and get all the ingredients ready.
Whizz the onion in the food processor then put straight into a large saucepan with the cooking oil and garlic and cook over a low heat until it's softened - add a splash of water too and make sure it doesn't stick.
This will take probably between 5-10 minutes, so while it's cooking, chop the courgette and celery together in the food processor and then add to the softened onion and garlic mixture, and stir together.
Add a ladleful of water and crumble in the stock cube and the white pepper and mix it all in.
Then whizz up the broccoli and asparagus and add this too and cook for a minute.
Throw in the spinach leaves and stir until wilted, then add as much water as you want to make your soup plus a tablespoon of natural or Greek yogurt (if using).
Simmer for ten minutes then remove from heat and cool slightly before blending very smooth.
Return to the pan to re-heat gently and add salt to taste (I also added a little more yogurt, since the pot was open!).
Serve with another dollop of yogurt if liked, and with a chunk of good crusty bread, or with a salad - as you choose.
