creamy kale & potato soup

Our Fall CSA is winding down for the year.  Our last pick-up will be November 8, and the nice hardy cool-weather crops are really starting to come in.  Hard squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, collards, and kale.  We have been getting big bags of baby kale that are nice for salads and soups.  They don't need the rib taken out in the same way that mature kale does.  I needed to get through a bag quickly this week, and soup seemed like a natural, since kale wilts down so nicely.  We had a few red potatoes and some cream left after making butter this week.  This soup came together in a snap and I enjoyed it out in the Fall sunshine on the porch.

Creamy Kale & Potato Soup
serves 2
1 T olive oil
1/2 an onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, minced
2 medium red potatoes, medium dice
2-3 C baby kale (use mature kale if desired, but remove the large vein from each leaf), roughly chopped
2-3 C chicken stock
1/2 C heavy cream
salt and pepper

The cast of characters:  onion, garlic, red potatoes, kale, chicken stock, and cream.

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and saute until soft.

Once they are soft (5-7 minutes), add diced potato and cook briefly.  Add chopped kale and allow it to wilt.  Season the mixture with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Once kale is wilted, add chicken stock.  I freeze mine in ice cube trays and then store in plastic bags in the freezer.  

Bring to a boil, then lower heat and allow the soup to simmer until the potato is softened.  That should take about 20 minutes.  I let mine go for an hour or two, though, and it was fine.  

Just before serving, add cream, and taste for seasonings.  Add more salt and pepper as needed.

This soup was beautiful alongside a piece of homemade sourdough toast with fresh butter, a hunk of raw cheese, and a tall glass of homebrew kombucha.  Bonus points if you eat it outside on a brisk day with full sun!

[This post submitted to Real Food Wednesday 10/29/14 and Pennywise Platter 10/30/14 and the Homestead Barn Hop 11/3/14.]