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.
Hahaha. So glad i don’t have to be in the OR any more… They always seemed to have fun yelling at the medical student the most. 😉
Haha…to tell the truth I never got yelled at by an attending…it was usually the nurses. But for good reasons, I was an idiot most of the time. The trick is to look respectfully clueless, don’t you think?
I love your analogy. I used to work in the hospital before, and I can swear, working in the kitchen is as stressful. What I hate about working in the hospital is that you don’t get to have free tastes, unlike working in the kitchen…
Will be trying your recipe. This soup is worth the shot!
Thanks! It is loosely based off of a recipe from 101 cookbooks…I didn’t reference it because I haven’t used Heidi’s recipe in about 3 years.
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/spinach-and-zucchini-soup-recipe.html
“Braising greens” were in my CSA bag this week, and I had no idea how to use. I made this as written (only exception using bacon fat, as significant other will eat anything with bacon so rolled with it). So easy, quick, and DELICIOUS! Thanks so much for sharing…can’t wit to make again!