Mixed Green & Potato Soup

One of the reasons I like cooking with vegetables better than with meat is that I find sterile technique a little tricky.  Take the OR, for instance:

If you’re scrubbed in, you can only touch the green/blue stuff and the instruments you see here in this picture.  No, not just that — don’t touch any part of your own gown save the front part of your torso.  Don’t let your hands drop to your sides.  Don’t let your glove touch the lamp.  And don’t cry when the surgeon yells at you, because you definitely can’t wipe away the tears.

And if you aren’t scrubbed in:

Remember the game “Lava”?  Welcome to the championships.

Anyway, working with raw meat generates the same kind of anxiety.  I’m so disorganized when I cook that I sometimes use latex gloves with meat to avoid having to wash my hands repeatedly.  So here’s to the forgiveness of vegetables.  And the fact that at the end of the day, my kitchen is not a surgery suite.

Ingredients

• 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed flat
• 2 small or one large potato(s), washed and diced into 1” cubes
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth, warmed in a separate pot to just below a boil
• 1 large bag of fresh greens, chopped — spinach, kale, swiss chard, anything you have on hand.  If you’re using frozen greens, try about a pound and adjust as you like
• salt & pepper

Heat the olive oil in a pot that holds at least a liter of liquid over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, and saute until it turns yellow and translucent.  Add the garlic and allow to brown before adding the potato dice.  Allow the potato dice to cook until they are no longer raw in the center, then add the broth.  Finally, add the greens.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the greens to wilt for about 4-5 minutes (don’t wait too long or the soup will not be very green).  Turn off the heat, then ladle the soup 1/4 at a time into a blender.  Blend until the soup is as smooth as you would like.  Adjust the salt and pepper to your taste preference.  Add yogurt or sour cream and serve warm.

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