Green Coconut Soup
With Crunchy Spiced Chickpeas & Crispy Kale
Sometimes our bodies are craving a hell of a lot of greens - maybe we are detoxing or trying to boost the immune system when feeling run down or preparing for a journey. Or maybe (cough cough) you have a garden that is overflowing with greens that need to be consumed in excessive quantities. Whatever the reasoning, greens are great and packed full of nutirional goodies. Now, while I’m no stranger to the work of green juices and smoothies, sometimes I really need something more substantial. I created this soup with those times in mind.
I got a lot of inspiration from Laura Wright, of The First Mess, for this recipe. And the great thing about it is its SOOOO adaptable! Any greens will do. I didn’t use exact measurements for my greens, I simply packed in whatever I had, so there is plenty of room for manouvre here.
I am also very excited to introduce you to my crunchy spiced chickpeas! They are my go-to for garnishes or just to snack on their lonesome. Super easy and delicious, you will be adding them to everrrything from now on. The same goes for crispy kale really. I find that by packing out your soup with exciting crunchy and crispy little surprises, your soup goes from being a vehicle for buttery bread, to becoming a hero in its own right.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6 (depending how big your bowl is!)
For the soup:
2 shallots (or 1 yellow onion) diced
1 inch peeled ginger roughly chopped
Big pinch of Salt
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
Chopped green chilli (as much as you like)
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 sticks of chopped celery
1 ltr vegetable stock
1 can of full fat coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
4 big fist fulls of roughly chopped greens (approx 6 cups but no need for accuracy here) - I used spinach, cavolo nero, and chard
Pepper to taste
For the Crispy Kale:
Approx 6 cups of kale (curly kale is best but I used Russian Red Kale and it worked just fine)
A drizzle of olive oil
Big pinch of salt
For the Crunchy Spiced Chickpeas:
1 tin of chickpeas
2 tsp paprika
1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Big pinch of sea salt
Method:
- Begin by draining the chickpeas. Pour them into a bowl and coat with the spices, salt, and lemon juice. Then simply pour them out into a roasting dish so that they make a single layer (not heaped) and place them in a 180 degree (c) oven. Roast the chickpeas until they are crisp - this usually takes approx 15mins, but I recommend checking them and giving them a little toss every 5 mins.
- In a large soup pan, sautée the shallots in the coconut oil with salt. As the shallots are softening and becoming translucent, add the corriander seeds, cumin seeds, chilli, and celery. Continue to stir over a low heat until the shallot and celery have softened.
- Pour in the veggie stock and bring to a boil
- Add the coconut milk and bring back to a boil
- Reduce the heat, add the lime juice and greens (*tip: don’t stir in the greens, just allow them to sit on top of the liquid, then place a lid on and allow the veggies to steam for 2 mins before removing the lid and stiring them in - I find this keeps them fresher and greener)
- Wizz the soup together in a blender or with a handheld blender and add pepper to taste
- For the crispy kale, simply roughly shred the kale onto a baking tray, add a small amount of olive oil and a generous amount of salt. Place in the oven with the chickpeas. Check every couple of minutes because they really dont take long to crisp up. Remove from the oven when crispy.
- To serve up I also like to add some coconut flakes, but this is optional. You could also garnish with some plain yoghurt or coconut cream.
I got a lot of inspiration from Laura Wright, of The First Mess, for this recipe. And the great thing about it is its SOOOO adaptable! Any greens will do. I didn’t use exact measurements for my greens, I simply packed in whatever I had, so there is plenty of room for manouvre here.
I am also very excited to introduce you to my crunchy spiced chickpeas! They are my go-to for garnishes or just to snack on their lonesome. Super easy and delicious, you will be adding them to everrrything from now on. The same goes for crispy kale really. I find that by packing out your soup with exciting crunchy and crispy little surprises, your soup goes from being a vehicle for buttery bread, to becoming a hero in its own right.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6 (depending how big your bowl is!)
For the soup:
2 shallots (or 1 yellow onion) diced
1 inch peeled ginger roughly chopped
Big pinch of Salt
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
Chopped green chilli (as much as you like)
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 sticks of chopped celery
1 ltr vegetable stock
1 can of full fat coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
4 big fist fulls of roughly chopped greens (approx 6 cups but no need for accuracy here) - I used spinach, cavolo nero, and chard
Pepper to taste
For the Crispy Kale:
Approx 6 cups of kale (curly kale is best but I used Russian Red Kale and it worked just fine)
A drizzle of olive oil
Big pinch of salt
For the Crunchy Spiced Chickpeas:
1 tin of chickpeas
2 tsp paprika
1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Big pinch of sea salt
Method:
- Begin by draining the chickpeas. Pour them into a bowl and coat with the spices, salt, and lemon juice. Then simply pour them out into a roasting dish so that they make a single layer (not heaped) and place them in a 180 degree (c) oven. Roast the chickpeas until they are crisp - this usually takes approx 15mins, but I recommend checking them and giving them a little toss every 5 mins.
- In a large soup pan, sautée the shallots in the coconut oil with salt. As the shallots are softening and becoming translucent, add the corriander seeds, cumin seeds, chilli, and celery. Continue to stir over a low heat until the shallot and celery have softened.
- Pour in the veggie stock and bring to a boil
- Add the coconut milk and bring back to a boil
- Reduce the heat, add the lime juice and greens (*tip: don’t stir in the greens, just allow them to sit on top of the liquid, then place a lid on and allow the veggies to steam for 2 mins before removing the lid and stiring them in - I find this keeps them fresher and greener)
- Wizz the soup together in a blender or with a handheld blender and add pepper to taste
- For the crispy kale, simply roughly shred the kale onto a baking tray, add a small amount of olive oil and a generous amount of salt. Place in the oven with the chickpeas. Check every couple of minutes because they really dont take long to crisp up. Remove from the oven when crispy.
- To serve up I also like to add some coconut flakes, but this is optional. You could also garnish with some plain yoghurt or coconut cream.