Thursday 21 April 2011

Rocket and Roses Simple Fennel and Kale Soup

Kitchen Play List:   Rainbow ~ Greatest Hits Album

My mystery ingredient item this week was the rather splendid Fennel bulb...4 of them to be exact. One of my favourite ways to eat fennel is steamed on a bed of kale. To me the flavours just fit together perfectly. So with this in mind I created this soup. I know you may be thinking "..but it's too warm to eat soup!" But in the Rocket and Roses kitchen we eat soup and salad for lunch most days. Yes for the healthy aspect of eating a good salad every day and the ease on the digestion of soup but mainly because we enjoy it. So I am always collecting soup recipes and creating new ones of my own. 

I wanted to keep the flavours in this soup very simple. I didn't want to take away from the natural flavours of the lush green kale and the aniseedy fennel. But you really do need to be a green leafy lover to enjoy this soup! lol. We have loved it and I hope you try it too. 

Can you feel the goodness in this soup? lol
 Rocket and Roses Simple Fennel & Kale Soup
(Original recipe from the Rocket & Roses Vegan Kitchen)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed and roughly chopped
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1/2 litre of veggie stock
1 200g bag of Curly Kale
1/2 litre of water
pinch of salt
generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper

Heat the oil in a large soup pan and then saute the fennel for 3 minutes. Add the potato to the pan and saute for a further 3 minutes. 

Add the stock to the fennel and potatoes and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. 

Add the remaining water to the pan and kale. Leave it to sit on top of the water and cover with the saucepan lid. Leave for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes the kale should easily be stirred into the soup so stir it well and cover again and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. 

Season with the salt and the freshly cracked black pepper and then using a stick blender or regular blender blitz the soup until silky and smooth. 

Enjoy!