 Ashley Strickland is an associate producer at CNN.com. She likes cajoling recipes from athletes and studying up on food holidays. After the “office funk” attacked for the third time this fall, I decided to take action. I needed to find an antioxidant powerhouse with the strength to fight off any and all germs and allergies. The usual suspects just weren’t cutting it and I needed a new weapon. During my frantic search, I stumbled upon something with such a miraculous list of healthy ingredients, I couldn’t say no. And last week, I’m proud to say that green soup entered my life. Sunday, my mom and I dragged the giant stock pot out and slapped it on the stove. The rapid chopping of onions, kale, spinach and parsley ensued. A little bit of olive oil in the frying pan and a slow, happy caramelization of onions began. We tossed fresh minced garlic in with the onions to crank up the flavor for my despondent taste buds. In the stock pot, chicken broth, wild long-grain rice and some of the minced garlic started a long simmer before we dumped in plate after plate of the fresh, nutrient-rich leaves. Soon, the stock pot’s contents resembled something I was sure any herbivore would love, although I couldn’t wait to stick the immersion blender in and turn that texture to cream. Once the onions turned a rich, golden brown, they joined the simmer in the stock pot. Dashes of cayenne here, a bit of salt and pepper there, and we were ready to let the rice and greens cook down. A comforting aroma wrapped around the kitchen and spread throughout the entire house. My father came to investigate the source, never in his life expecting to find green soup. Once the rice was tender, we began to purée the massive pot of ingredients, but an initial taste test revealed that it was missing something. We wanted to both soften and spike the flavor just a little bit, and discovered the answer in a small container of crumbled goat cheese. Another whirl with the immersion blender and it was perfect. The starch from the rice was a perfect thickening agent, although you can use potatoes as well. We scarfed down bowl after bowl. Just as we had layered the ingredients in the pot and caramelized the onions with care, each individual flavor burst open. Here was a snap of parsley, there was that dash of cayenne, followed by the sweet, smoky flavor of goat cheese and all tied together by the complex warmth of golden onions. It was comfort in a bowl. I couldn’t seem to get enough of it. Here was a completely healthy and comforting soup, so simple yet so layered with flavors that I would be sure to love it. The next morning, I felt a bit like Popeye does after popping open a can of spinach - empowered and healthy, thrusters on full. I think I found my secret weapon. The best part is, I know that this is just the beginning. The green soup that we experimented with is really a base, just waiting for everything but the kitchen sink to amp up or completely change the direction of the flavor. Green soup may not look or sound like much, but I think it’s a miracle that anyone can love. So before you fall prey to whatever pestilence is lurking around the corner this season, whip up a batch of miracle soup and I promise, it will be good for your mind, body and soul. Here's our take on this super soup. This is a decent portion to get your feet wet, but feel free to double or triple. Green Soup Ingredients
Cooking Directions
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To ASHLEY STRICKLAND:
Would you please double check your recipe – you mention PARSLEY twice in your article but parsley is NOT an ingredient in your recipe. BTW I made this soup and it was terrific! I'm thinking you must be in your twenties. If not, you need to focus on your job.
What about Soylent Green Soup?
This soup looks delicious. I just tried Spinach and Goat Cheese Bisque, which I think is an Eating Well recipe as well. I am trying to get over a cold, so I may have to try this soup out as well!
Anna, I happen to have a bunch of interesting greens from my CSA that I'm not an expert at using. Was hoping to put them all in green soup. You mention the recipe is forgiving. I hope so. I have mustard greens, tatsoi and bok choy in addition to the kale, spinach and parsley. Do you think it's a bad idea to add these things?
I don't know why I decided to make this soup. I tend to stick to chicken soup, don't like cooked spinach, and have never tasted kale. However, I always wanted an excuse to buy an immersion blender so in a fit of insanity/bravery I bought all the ingredients (after having to ask other shoppers to show me what kale looks like) and made a pot of green soup. I was not confident about the smell while it was cooking. I wasn't sure I bought the correct kind of rice and I had a strong feeling I'd just wasted my time and money. My kids kept staring at the pot and asking, "Are you really really sure we don't have to eat that?" After finally trying out my immersion blender (weeeeeee!!!) I took a taste as my eight year old stared, wide-eyed. I think he expected me to throw up or keel over dead. I'm not sure which one of us was more shocked when I exclaimed, "Hey, this is actually really good!" Sadly, none of the kids would test it (my husband will probably be scared of it too), but that means all the more for me! I had two bowls for dinner and am looking forward to some delicious lunches this week. I think I'll try out some more soups, maybe from this book I read so much about in all these comments.
Anyone know if this soup freezes well? Or how long it will last in the fridge? Thanks!
Green soup is the greatest. But my comment is about the credit issue. Anna Thomas invented soup as far as I am concerned, and should get credit for just the soup stocks. to say nothing of the recipes. Get her book, LOVE SOUP, it's an award winner.
Nancy E.
One of the most fantastic recipes out of Anna Thomas' phenomenal LOVE SOUP!!!! If you enjoy good soup you should definitely pick up this book. Tastes amazing and is good for you too.
Does anyone know from the other recipe how much parsley should be used?
Which other recipe are you talking about? Happy to help if I know which one you are talking about...
Thank you! This article talks about parsley, but the recipe doesn't include any parsley. Many of the previous posts mentioned a cookbook called LoveSoup that contains this recipe too. Is it your cookbook? Anyway this recipe sounds wonderful, and I'd like to make today, but I don't know how much parsley to add. Can't wait to try it!
Thanks for your help!
Hi Carol, me again. Yes, I am the one who wrote Love Soup, and I wrote the article in Eating Well Magazine, with the 6 different green soup recipes. And you're right - parsley is mentioned in the post above, but not in the recipe. Curiously, olive oil is also left out of the ingredient list, and that is essential! But, don't worry. Green soup is the most flexible, forgiving recipe in the world. Throw in about a handful of fresh chopped parsley, toward the end of the cooking time - or don't. Your soup will be delicious. If you love parsley, throw in two handfuls. And drop me a note on the Love Soup By Anna Thomas facebook page to tell me how it turned out.
Thanks so much! I am off to the market!
YUM! Of course I made my own variation too. I use 2 handfulls of parsley and 1 handfull of watercress. In addition to the goat cheese I added an equal amount of Parmesan cheese, and instead of the cayenne, I used a lot of nutmeg. It is delicious! And I doubled the recipe, so we are going to be happily eating it with whole grain bread all week! YUM!
This is a great soup! I just made it – didn't have wild rice, but had purple "sticky" rice and it dyed the whole pot dark purple/black. It tastes fantastic – but because of the purple rice, the soup ended up looking more like black bean soup for me... might even get to trick my husband into eating it! Shhh...
I so agree with you about the startling and unexpected tastiness of Green Soup. To find something so utterly delicious, AND utterly healthy is rare. In our Soup Group (started by Jane Handel and Anna Thomas... we have the intention of making every recipe in Anna's cookbook LOVE SOUP... a delicious, ambitious club...) we have sampled many versions of Green Soup. What we've noticed is that no matter what the other soup choices are on any given night... everyone goes back for second helpings of Green Soup. Thanks for passing along the good word!
The green soup I make has watercress in place of the spinach and potatoes in place of the wild rice. I'm going to try the wild rice, but I will keep the watercress because it adds such a peppery kick to the soup and it's wonderful!
How great that Anna's green soup should touch so many. But there are plenty other delicious dishes in Love Soup for CNN to air – but next time give the talented mistress of the cauldron the credit she is due.
Wow! Ashley, I was delighted to see a bowl of green soup looking back at me from my computer screen this morning, and happy to find that you were inspired by my article in Eating Well. I blasted the link, posted it to the Love Soup facebook page... and the green soup cultists came to visit! I will try your version, with the wild rice, soon. And just to set the record straight, the basic Green Soup recipe in the magazine is indeed adapted from my book, Love Soup - but all the other recipes in that Eating Well series are brand new. I hope you try a few others, and a big THANKS for spreading the gospel of green!
Say, since no-one else is speaking up, I should probably point out that this soup was actually created by...by...ah, heck, I forget the name now. She wrote a book or something. Check it out if you have the time.
hahahahahaha! OK, now we're set. Green soup and a good laugh will get us through most things.
Anna Thomas deserves total credit for this Green Soup,creation. We're sure Miss Ashley totally forgot to mention this recipe (AND others) is from Anna's lovely book, LoveSoup, just to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it would be nice if she would
correct this omission. Thank you.
I am totally committed now to trying Anna Thomas's Love Soup! I wonder if my local library has it?
I've got my own versions, including my winter tonic, spinach soup: http://ozarkhomesteader.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/winter-tonic-spring-green-creamy-spinach-soup/
and Tuscan kale soup:
http://ozarkhomesteader.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/zuppa-italian-soup-with-sausage-leeks-and-kale/
(Vegetarians can easily leave out the sausage.)
This is yet another soup for the ages from Anna Thomas, my cookbook writing fave! It's providential that the article writer found the soup to be fan elixir, but PLEASE mention the primary source!
Exactly right! Anna Thomas' Love Soup got me through last winter- particularly her Green Soup. It's hearty enough to be dinner, a great mid-day pick me up, and endlessly versatile. Let's give credit where it's due– to ANNA THOMAS!
PEASOUP HERE IS CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE. CARROTS,ONIONS,BROCCOLI,GARLIC, PARSLEY,OREGANO,TOMATO, CHICKEN STOCK,SPLIT PEAS AND THE PIECE D'RESISTANCE A SMOKED HAM HOCK. ALL DONE IN THE CROCK POT. NO STARCH NEEDED FOR THICKENING. CRUNCHED STALE ITALIAN BREAD SPRINKLED ON TOP! YUMM!
This is Anna Thomas's soup and I think it is fantastic too. Besides the delicious and complex levels of flavor it is power packed with nutrition.Run to your bookstore and pick up her book, Love Soup and you can souper charge yourself everyday with a new treat from this cookbook. You know , she won the James Beard Award for it. You wil be thanking me for this yip!
Anna Thomas' Green Soup has changed my life in countless ways. In recent months, as I struggled through chemotherapy, it was a staple of my diet. Always delicious and satisfying it has the added benefit of being nourishing beyond one's wildest imaginings. I could almost feel my cells regenerating after eating it. Thomas' amazing book Love Soup introduced me to Green Soup and so many other incredible soups that it has become not only my favorite cook book, but my favorite gift to give.Thomas makes making soup so easy and accessible–she takes the fear out of cooking for one and all. But it saddens me that this article did not give credit where credit was due–to Anna Thomas and her revelatory cookbooks including Love Soup!
Let's not forget to give credit where credit is due!! That recipe is out of Anna Thomas' LOVE SOUP cookbook which houses tons of other fabulous recipes as well. They are healthy and delicious soups that were all created by Anna herself. She is an amazing cook as well as an amazing woman all the way around. Highly recommend this cookbook!
This sounds like one of the delicious & nutritious green soups that my friend (and award-winning cookbook author) Anna Thomas made for me when she was testing recipes for her new book LOVE SOUP. If you like this soup, you'll love LOVE SOUP.
It was strange reading the recipe for this soup that sounded so much like the soup I've made from LOVE SOUP, by the amazing Anna Thomas. I know some folks can take a recipe and make it differently... but Anna's Green Soup is something special. I've made it so many times, I knew the recipe by heart. I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one wondering... Is that Anna's Green Soup? Of course it is! I'm glad more folks will know about it and have the chance to make it. It's muy rico! But I have to say, "Ashley, you mentioned the magazine... You printed the recipe. You gotta mention the writer of the article... and the creator of the recipe!" Three cheers for Green Soup! Hip, hip, hooray for Anna Thomas and LOVE SOUP!
Hey, what's going on? Why didn't you just say this is from Love Soup by Anna Thomas, as it makes clear in the original article? If it was a song or a painting or a poem you'd give the author's name – same deal here!!! Especially if it's a really innovative recipe from a really innovative idea for a cookbook as it is here! Attribute, attribute!!!
Sorry to be so hot about it but I've been a fan of Ms. Thomas ever since she wrote the UR-Vegetarian Cookbook The Vegetarian Epicure, which I picked up in Berkeley and it changed my eating habits for life! I think her newest cookbook Love Soup, the book this soup comes from, won a book award as well last year.
I saw this article this morning & I was so surprised that there was no mention of the person who created this recipe – the wonderfully creative cook Anna Thomas. I have all of her cookbooks, back to the original "Vegetarian Epicure". Anna was one of the very first people to make healthy eating delicious. I not only use her "Love Soup" & "New Vegetarian Epicure" cookbooks all the time – but, I also give them as gifts to friends & relatives. Not only do they love them too – but, when I go to their homes for lunch or dinner I am always treated to a wonderful meal. Win-Win!
My family eats a high-raw diet and we do green smoothies almost daily and have for several years. It makes SUCH A DIFFERENCE in one's health! I can whip up a green smoothie with kale, celery, cilantro, avocado and a variety of spices in about 10 minutes using a high-speed blender. Yep. 10 minutes! No need to de-stem things or chop or saute/carmalize, etc. Just wash, make pieces that fit into the blender, add warm water and whirl. This is vegan and kosher, too. Green smoothie recipes are everywhere on the net, and a great resource is Cousens' Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine.
Hear, hear for giving credit where credit is due! I have definitely had the original green soup, thanks to Anna Thomas, who introduced me to her recipe a few years ago. I know its origins well because it is one of my all-time favorite meals. I guarantee that this soup is much better Anna's way: finished off with a drizzle of fruity olive oil.
Anna is definitely the soup sage and you'll find this, and other great soup recipes, in her James Beard Award-winning book, Love Soup. Check it out!
green is great! Endlessly variable by season and inclination, but always, always delicious and magnificently healthy.
Credit where credit is due is spot on. We made one of Anna Thomas's delicious green soups this past Sunday for our Soup Club supper. By the way, Anna is the queen of soups. As pointed out, she is author of LoveSoup – a bible for those who "love soup". The soups we've made from Anna's bible are always delicious, satifying and most of all healthy. Please do yourself a favor and check that cookbook out.
I see the reference to Eating Well but not to the Queen of soup, Anna Thomas, who shared her recipe for green soup with the magazine readers. Her book, Love Soup, winner of a James Beard award, has pots and pots of green soup recipes. Sure this was an oversight on your part. Just wanted to give credit where credit is due. There are her basic recipes and then we all do 'our thing' to them when we get that creative urge. Like you.
Here is another green soup that will knock your socks off and comfort your tummy.
Mom’s Garlic Vegetable soup
Add light cream only to portion to be served. If freezing add to defrosted portion.
Ingredients:
4 Tbsp Butter
1 large Onion
16 Cloves garlic
2 Leeks well washed and sliced thin
3 stalks celery with leaves & heart
4-5 Cups chicken stock or broth
1 Tbsp chicken base
4 Yellow squash or zucchini cubed
3 Potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 Tsp fresh chopped thyme leaves
5 parsley stems
1 large bay leaf
1 Tbsp light cream per serving
3 Tbsp fine snipped Basil
½ Cup sliced carrot
Medium Dash of nutmeg
Heat butter in large pot, add onion, garlic, leek and celery.
Simmer over med heat browning lightly, about 7 minutes.
Cover with chicken stock and rest of ingredients.
Bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Remove bay leaf. Puree soup in blender in batches
Return soup to clean pot and stir in cream ( soup without cream added at this point may be frozen and cream added when thawed.)
Reheat over low heat to serving heat.
Credit where credit is due. This fab recipe comes from Anna Thomas, James Beard Award winner for LoveSoup. I've had several variations of her Green Soup and they are the best – healthy, fresh, nutritious and just as good if not better than chicken soup if you're ailing.
Let's give credit where credit is due...the article in EATING WELL was written by the Queen of Green Soup Anna Thomas. Her book LOVE SOUP is a must have for every soup lovin'/health cravin' cook.
I love soup, even green soup which I make with broccoli and seaweed, and I love "Love Soup" by Anna Thomas, my soup bible. Anna originally devised this green soup 3 years ago, and I was lucky to be one of the 'tasters' around her kitchen table. So 3 cheers to Anna. Do I detect a soup-con of plagiarism here?
Yes, Green Soup is marvelous! I've made it and I stand by it and I stand by the wonderful cookbook author, Anna Thomas, who originally concocted it, ingredient-for-ingredient, in her book LOVE SOUP. Anna Thomas is perhaps best known for penning one of the first vegetarian cookbooks, THE VEGETARIAN EPICURE. Her recipes, especially the more recent recipes like Green Soup, encompass the realm of food that heals by virtue of its nutritional content and delicate, well-reasoned combination of flavors. Green Soup is one of my favorites! Let's give credit where credit is due: Thanks, Anna, wherever you are! My mother loves it, too.
I'm sorry, but since when do antioxidants fight off "germs and allergies"? Recent medical discovery?
Love making soups from scratch, though, so I may have to give it a try if the weather ever cools off. I just won't be expecting any miracles....
This soup (Green Soup) is a portuguese staple – it has been around for as long as I can remember. In portuguese it is called 'caldo verde', and is excellente on cold evenings or if you have the flu.
I see, however, that there is ine ingredient missing: potatoes (in small chuncks).
This sounds delicious! I can't wait to make it – green foods always make me feel like I'm nurturing myself. Thanks for the recipe!
Thrusters on full!
Fig makes a really great line of organic ready to heat up soups – very low salt – which I like – Kosher too!
For those not into soups, Naked makes an amazing green juice that is good any time of time. and if you're not into paying a bunch for Naked, there are recipes all over the internet for green smoothies. Works just the same!
Ho much parsley should be added?
I have been trying all the soup varieties of my own and all came perfect. In fact we have come to love the soups its incredible the taste you can get from some ingredients you wouldn't like much.
Thank you for sharing, I am going to try this one as well. I suggest that you try adding raw cilantro/coriander to the soup of any kind, that gives a super flavor. Also buy curry leaves from the Indian grocery shop and add plenty of it and less of other greens, its delicious. And JT try adding a half potato or a butternut squash instead of rice, you will love it..!!
mmmm..thanks for the great tips
Sounds great!
Another green soup that is wicked easy to make and just as "creamy" and flavorful is Zucchini Soup.
You need 5 ingredients: garlic, zucchini, water, veggie or chicken bullion cube, and olive oil. Use as little or as much garlic as you want (I prefer lots!), slice and saute in olive oil. Slice the zucchini (for 4 people I'd use 5-6 zucchinis so there's enuf for 2nds and leftovers) and add that to the pot and saute with the garlic. Then add the water just to cover (before the zucchini burns on the bottom) and add in the bullion cube and some salt/pepper to taste. Once the zucchini is completely cooked pull it off the heat and use and immersion blender to make it nice and smooth and "creamy". This is great as a main dish or along side grilled cheese or a Ruben-style sandwich!
It's cheap, really easy, super healthy, and delicious!
That sounds fantastic, thank you. I can't wait to try it
The recipe sounds delicious and healthy, I'll have to try it.
I can't stand the flavor of wild rice, othewise this sounds pretty good. I'd try maybe mixing in some other "greens" just for variety.
Try adding a potato (half or one large) or half of butternut squash without seeds instead of rice, it makes the soup great!
Did I miss where the parsley comes into play? Is it only for garnish?
And of course somebody at the table always brings up the Exorcist right as were about to start eating.
Sounds just like Leah Chase's Gumbo Z'Herbes!
Awesome, thanks!
Replace the Kale with Jute and get back to the real "Green Soup". Kale is just a substitute for folks unlucky enough to not have access to Jute. Best soup ever, btw with Jute you don't need to add rice.
I make the Best split pea soup in the World ;-9
While i bet you make a good split pea soup.. "best in the world" title is attached to mine ;-)
Oh? What time are you serving?
Split pea soup is my favorite, but I don't use a recipe; I just peel and chop vegetables while the 1 1/4 cup seared long grain rice simmers in a mix of water and Swanson's Chicken Broth. (Sometimes I use four medium or two large peeled and diced potatoes instead of rice.) The vegetables are carrots, celery, water chestnuts, parsley and the chopped leaves of the parsley and celery. I haven't used a parsnip yet, but look forward to trying it.
That's you? Wow. I make the 142nd best split pea soup in the world and always wondered who was #1.
Wow that sounds delicious! Thank you. This has inspired me to think of a way to do a cold cucumber variation. Cold soothes a dry, sore throat.
AleeD, a wonderful cucumber soup is to saute chopped onions in a little butter in a big pot, add 3 or 4 sliced, peeled cucmbers, some salt and pepper, and cook them for a little while, then add a couple tablespoons flour. Add chicken stock and cook for 30 to 40 minutes. Meanwhile, puree two more peeled cucumbers in a blender. Cool the soup and use an immersion blender or other blender to puree, add the two uncooked pureed cucumbers and some cream or half and half. Chill in the refrigerator and you have a great soup.
That sounds interesting.
Another excellent cucumber soup: chop up two seeded cucumbers (peeling optional), and add to a blender with about a cup and a half of fresh spinach leaves, a clove of garlic, 2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth, and about a cup of plain yogurt. Adjust all amounts to your particular taste, of course. Blend until smooth. Keeps in fridge for up to three days. I can live on this in the summer!