Wednesday Food Section: Healing Soup

In the tradition of daily newspapers, many of which feed their muses on Wednesday with food-related content, I'm starting a new feature here at What Do I Know?: the Wednesday Food Section. Every Wednesday I'll feature a recipe I've made and loved, usually vegan, but if you really dig cholesterol and factory farming, feel free to substitute eggs and dairy.

I came up with this recipe for Healing Soup when a friend was undergoing chemo. I found out later she was too sick to eat more than a few bites of the meals I'd brought her, but she was too kind to hurt my feelings, even when her own pain was immense.

So in memory of Rebecca Gault, one of the classiest redheads I've ever known, here's a hearty soup filled with warmth and lots of good cancer-fighting ingredients. It's a favorite on cold days. (Why are cold days in March especially spiteful?) Serve to those you love, with crusty wholegrain bread and olive oil.

A bowl of Healing Soup chases away winter colds.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 qt vegetable stock, or enough to cover vegetables
1 cup green lentils
1 bunch kale, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 to 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon miso

Heat oil and add onion, plus carrots, celery and garlic, as they are prepared. Sauté a few minutes, then add stock, kale, and lentils. Cook over medium heat until kale begins to lose its color, about 20 minutes. Add tomatoes and rest of ingredients, except miso. Cook 20 minutes or until lentils and carrots are soft. Turn off heat and add miso, mixed with a little liquid from the soup or with warm water. Serve warm.

*Notes about ingredients: Green "le Puy" lentils are preferred; they hold their shape better than brown, and are less starchy. Health food stores sell them in bulk, but if you can't find them, substitute plain brown lentils. Miso can be found at most health food stores or Asian grocers. If you can't find it, leave it out. I've used plain kale as well as the more adventurous dino-kale (aka Lacinato) or exotic Russian kale for this recipe; any will work.

Comments

[nmfoodie]

Now, now, K---not all eggs are baaad or factory farmed, and not all dairy is wicked and evil. I am currently in a swoon over full fat plain yogurt from Straus Family Creamery in CA.
Like eating white velvet? ( Hmmm...) Anyway, sublime. And, in the French mode, one eats just a small amount.
No supersizing.
Now as it is Food Wednesday, pls go see TFM blog re Girl Scout Cookies.....

[nmfoodie]

p.s. The first part of my Comment was lobbed off. ( By me...)
Here it is--

Foodie applauds Wednesday as food day, and also the soup--it sounds superb. Like the plug for French lentils, too.

[Kathy]

I did go today to Foodie's blog (TFM), in fact, to tell you about the very same Girl Scout Cookie article! I did not comment, alas.

Glad you like my new feature. Can't wait to taste the Moroccan Tagine I'm cooking now, possibly for next week's post...

[Roxanne]

I'm probably the only person who will care about this, but what kind of miso?

[Kathy]

I used red miso this last time, but previously used yellow miso. The darker, the more pungent, generally, and this soup can handle the pungence.

[hannaeuse]

nice bowl, kathy flake.

[barb]

kathy flake, nice bowl