Good grief.
I’m freezing cold. I want Taco Bell. I want to eat vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce in a hot tub.
I can feel myself being a major brat.
I’ll settle for a giant scarf. A big bowl of this healthy soup. Hot chocolate and a bath… and I’ll stop being a dang brat.
I like kale as much as I like brownies.
Wait… could Kale Brownies be a thing? My head might explode.
Let me tell you why this soup makes everything better.
Big, gnarly kale leaves are shredded and cooked down with delicious sweet potatoes (yams), swimming in a slightly spicy coconut broth. With the flavors of turmeric, ginger and coconut… this soup is super comforting and delicious served over a big bed of brown rice.
Healthy. Warm. Comforting.
Follow with a warm bath and a brownie… just cause that seems dreamy.
Kale and Sweet Potato Soup
inspired by Food and Wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, chopped fine
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon crushed red peppers
3/4 pound kale, tough stems removed and roughly chopped
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (yams), peeled and diced into 3/4-inch cubes
1 1/2 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
2 cups cooked brown rice
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook down until tender and translucent, about five minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, for about 1 minutes.
Add the sweet potato chunks and stir.
Add the chicken or vegetable broth and bring to a simmer.
Add the kale once the broth is simmering and submerge all of the leaves, helping them to cook down.
Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes have become tender.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Lastly, stir in coconut milk, heat through and serve over a bed of brown rice.
Elisabeth Edwards
This soup sounds gorgeous. Finally, a way to use two of my family’s very favorite veggies in one dish. Thanks so much for this. I feel comforted already.
jeanology
Hi Joy, on the off chance you might read this while this soup is still cooking, do you have any recommendations for spices besides tumeric and ginger that would taste good in this soup? I don’t have either of those on hand, but I decided to throw this together anyway because your pictures look so great. I’m thinking it will taste pretty good without them, but if you think another spice would be worth a try, I wouldn’t mind adding a bit more flavor.
jeanology
So I finished the soup–it turned out so well! Delicious even without the tumeric and ginger. Thank you so much, this was just what I needed tonight.
joythebaker
hmmm… next time how about cumin and de-seeded jalapeno pepper?
Amy
Joy, I would have never put sweet potatoes and kale together. You’ve got me curious!
michelle
It’s cold and wet even here even in Australia today so that soup looks awsome!
juliette
I don’t usually comment on blogs, however I love to read them,
There is a recipe on King Arthur for zucchini brownies, so why not Kale brownies???
I say lets look into that…..
Rhoni
I don’t know that kale and zucchini are interchangeable, I’d think twice before trying that! :) Zucchini is a squash and can lend moisture to baked goods…kale will not do the same thing. But if you prove me wrong, let me know!
Liz
This sounds delicious! I have some swiss chard and sweet potatoes that I need to use, so this would be perfect! Though of course not the same, chard and kale relatively interchangeable, right?
I’ve gotten a lot of kale in my farm share and am growing to like it quite a bit. Kale chips are great and super easy.
Finally, three cheers for dishes that keep you warm in the winter! (Says the Cali girl looking at her 4th Boston winter fast approaching!)
joythebaker
i bet chard would be delicious.
Rhoni
Okay, Liz…if you didn’t try it already, I can officially tell you that this recipe with swiss chard is utterly delicious! I used a combo of chard and kale because that’s what I had and it just came off the stove. Yum.
Thanks Joy for the recipe!
linda
this soup looks great…& the styling on the photos was just fantastic & very creative!!!
Sandra J
Love this kale soup recipe. We grew 8 plants and from just 5 of them, got 2 laundry baskets full (after eating lots and lots all fall). Have a freezer full; wondering how to use it. We usually steam it and mix it in with mashed potatoes. Will try this soup recipe. Thanks much.
Jess
Have you tried kale chips? Chop the leaves, toss them with a bit of olive oil and salt, then broil til nice and crispy!
Jess
I agree with the other Jess. Kale chips are the best. Hardly any work and totally delicious. I add a bit of cayenne to mine, and they are so so so so tasty.
cindy
I love the sound of this recipe. My husband though does not like anything coconut. Can I use milk or something else in its place?
Jessica
As a fellow hater of all things coconut, Thai curries and peanut sauces with coconut milk are some of my favorite things. They don’t taste coconutty to me I think because of the spices and other flavors. So maybe give this a try, but don’t tell him the secret ingredient? :)
joythebaker
you can leave the coconut milk out all together and just add more broth… and if you really want it creamy, you might try a cup of milk…. but i haven’t done this… so i’m not sure.
Melissa
I agree, I generally detest the taste of coconut and yet I love coconut milk based curries.
Dawn
I’m definitely going to try this. Believe it or not, my kids like kale, but not sweet potatoes! More for me! :-) Oh, maybe I’ll make them a batch with carrots instead.
Beth
My mouth is watering and I have everything BUT the kale, my all time favorite green! I put kale in just about everything I cook! I might even try the brownie thing, add a bit of spice? I have a crazy palette when pregnant, but if I can make a sweet a bit healthier I won’t feel so glutinous indulging on a heavenly delight! I LOVE this blog!
Tiffany B.
I see that you did put yams in parenthesis next to sweet potatoes but I have to wonder why you didn’t just call it Kale and Yam soup. I have never understood why people still feel the need to call a yam a sweet potato. Love you all the same! :)
Could Kale really be just as good as brownies? I don’t know.
Anna
I love love love that you didn’t make puree soup. I don’t have a blender and seeing all the smooth blended soupy goodness everywhere is depressing. But I can, and will, totally make this. Looks so good.
Miri Leigh
Ahhhh. Soup does sound like a good idea! And any recipe that makes it easy to eat super-nutritious kale is a recipe I like. This sounds fabulous, and warmmmmm.
Stephanie
It’s totally soup weather, and this looks so healthy and good on a really cold day (like today-brrr)! Taco Bell though? Seriously? There are a million and one better taco shops and stands all over So Cal!
Sasha @ Global Table Adventure
I think they put some sort of addictive drug in taco bell. It’s totally not fair.