Heart-warming vegie soup

Sometimes life can be a little rough, with unforeseen accidents, petty politics at work or unexpected real live genuine betrayals that would have The Bold and the Beautiful scriptwriters slow-clapping in appreciation.

Usually the overwhelming instinct is to head for some greasy hot food, ice-cream or a bucket-sized glass of vino. For me, it’s chocolate and a lot of it, even if it is homemade raw chocolate, full of antioxidants and minerals, and infused with orange essential oil, which has antidepressant and anti-inflammatory properties. And therein lies the key. Indulge in your go-to comfort foods, but also seek out foods that nourish. Find something delicious that will promote healing and happiness for both the body and the mind.

This hearty, delicious soup ticks those boxes and best of all, it’s easy and you can use pretty much whichever vegies you have handy. For me this week that included organic supermarket carrots, a spring onion out of the backyard, a jar of my preserved summer tomatoes, and a bunch of Tuscan kale from my community garden plot.

Egg shells around baby plants stop slugs and snails

Kale is super easy to grow from seed, either planted direct or in pots and transplanted as 10-cm high seedlings. It’s also absurdly good for you, with plenty of vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acid and antioxidants. Give it a sunny spot with good soil, let it grow to a decent size over the next couple of months, then pick the small, tender leaves for salads or the larger leaves for casseroles and soups. Chop it finely and cook it a little longer than you would spinach. 

Kale will grow throughout the year. Happily, it prefers cooler climates like Canberra, where our winter frosts knock out the pesky white cabbage butterfly caterpillars and replace the kale’s often bitter, sulphurous summer taste with a fresh sweetness. The best way to deal with the destructive caterpillars organically is to put a finely-woven net around the plant to prevent the butterflies from landing and laying their tiny bright yellow eggs. Some garden experts suggest ‘planting’ fake butterflies around the plants so the real butterflies think the territory is already taken and leave. My margarine container-lid impostors had the opposite effect, attracting large numbers of lovelorn butterflies.

My happy kale plants in my community garden plot.

If you don’t protect your plants it’s best to inspect them daily for the eggs, which you can simply brush off the plant, and the caterpillars, which you can either squish or relocate to a distant park. Otherwise, they can do some serious damage and add some surprise protein to your green smoothie. Kale can also attract aphids but keep it strong and healthy with regular feeds and watering and it will be able to better resist them.

The lentils and sautéed vegies

Back to the soup - I also include a generous serve of lentils, which keep you full, improve digestion, support a healthy heart, help combat cancer, promote weight loss, and have good doses of iron, folate and potassium. Finally, I use fresh turmeric, which is just as full of vitaminy goodness but also anti-inflammatory and enhances brain chemicals that manage happiness, pleasure and pain.

So here it is, my hearty vegie soup.

Add a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to a large saucepan on the stove over a medium heat. Toss in some diced onion, kale, carrots, celery, parsley, a bay leaf and any other herbs and vegies you’ve got in the fridge or garden plus some finely grated turmeric. Sauté for several minutes until the vegies soften slightly.

Rinse a cup of dried orange lentils very well and add to the pan, along with your preserved or canned tomatoes. Stir well then add a few cups of your favourite stock. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and leave to simmer for the next 45 minutes or until the lentils have broken down and the soup has a lovely rich colour.

Season with salt and pepper and serve. A slosh of organic apple cider vinegar (white vinegar works fine) in each bowl will complement the richness of the soup perfectly.