In my effort to spend a little less time in the kitchen some days, I’ve come up with a nice, easy, nourishing meal that I’m calling Souped Up Soup. I take a really decent organic boxed soup and I add a bunch of stuff to it to amp up the nutrition. It’s really easy and makes a fast dinner (or lunch) when I just need to get something on the table.
This particular recipe uses a Pacific brand of boxed soup that I really find tasty (I buy in bulk on Amazon). It has lentils, which my family really doesn’t each much of these days. But, to have in some soup, on a day that I’m too tired to make much of anything else? Totally fine. Plus, I’m really picky about ingredients and this is pretty much the only one that meets my standards. They have a quinoa soup, but I find it’s not as tasty.
So, for you parents who want a meal that is pretty darn nutritious and easy to make… this Souped Up Soup is for you. Obviously, the greatest part of this recipe is just using what veggies and ingredients you have on hand, but there are two staples I like to ensure I add: organic lacinato kale and Four Sigma Foods instant mushroom powders (Shiitake and Maitake specifically).
Souped Up Soup
Yield 3 to 4 servings
- 1 bunch lacinato kale, destemmed and chopped (<— favorite knife)
- 2 to 3 carrots, chopped
- 1 red or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, pressed
- grass-fed ghee (<— best ghee on the planet)
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper (<— a great pepper mill)
- 2 boxes Pacific Organic Vegetable Lentil &Roasted Red Pepper soup
- fresh herbs, optional
- 3 tablespoons grass-fed Upgraded Collagen (<– good for joints and skin)
- 1 packet Four Sigma Foods Instant Maitake Mushrooms
- 1 packet Four Sigma Foods Instant Shiitake Mushrooms
- Get a medium sized soup pot and put about 1/2 cup of filtered water in it. Destem the kale, chop it roughly and add to the pot. Over medium-high heat, cook that kale for a couple of minutes until it’s bright green. Transfer the kale only (not the water) to a bowl and set aside. Empty the pot of the kale water and return to stove. I do this all on my induction hot plate I wrote about here that I take when we travel.
- Add a teaspoon or more of grass fed ghee, the carrots, a bit of sea salt and some fresh black pepper. Cook them until tender over medium-low heat. This is the part that takes the longest. Depending on the size of your carrots this could take 10 minutes or 2o minutes. While the carrots are cooking, take some kitchen shears and cut the kale into smaller pieces.
- Add the bell pepper and cook for a couple of minutes. Make some space and add the garlic. Allow the garlic to cook for a minute or so.
- Add the kale, boxed soups, fresh herbs, collagen, and mushroom powders. Stir everything together and cook until warmed. (Add raw grass fed cheese, if desired.) Enjoy!