If you like yummy soup with a handful (or armful, if you're making a HUGE pot of it) of common ingredients, then might I suggest the Portuguese delicacy of Caldo Verde?
Imagine a magical blend of scrumdiddlyumptiousness of taters, kale, and linguica, with hints of garlic and onion, in a chicken broth?
Trust me, it's good. So good, my daughter growls like a feral beast and lays claim to the entire freaking pot when I make it (so now I make her a smaller batch and she can nosh on it as she sees fit).
Just warning ya'll, I didn't take all the photos I needed because once my kiddo saw the pot of Caldo Verde on the stove, she took over cooking it. (Ain't she a doll?)
So, to get this party going, you're going to need:
- 6 Potatoes, peeled and chopped (4 roughly chopped, 2 finely chopped)
- 5 Garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 1 large Onion (yellow or white work best), peeled and chopped
- Half a bunch of Kale, washed and chopped
- 12 oz Linguica sausage
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
Alrighty, here we go. Veggies prepped? Awesome.
(1) In a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and garlic. DO NOT BROWN THE GARLIC. If it starts browning, turn down your heat. You want to soften and infuse the oil with the garlicy goodness.
(2) When the garlic is soft, add the onion. Mix 'em around, let 'em mingle. Cook until the onion gets translucent.
(3) Now it's tater time. As you can see, some potato chunks are, uh, more chunky than others. There is a reason for this madness.
The smaller chunks will disintegrate as they cook and thicken the soup. Big chunks are for your soup spoon's pleasure.
(4) Once the potatoes have joined the party, it's time to add water (enough to fill the pot, but leaving headspace for the final ingredients, so, like 2 inches.) and the magical ingredient:
I find this in the Mexican Food isle of my local market. It enhances rice, potatoes, soups and stews. I dissolve mine in a cup of hot water and then stir that into the pot. I add up to a 1/4 cup of the boullion... best to start with smaller amounts and fine tune it to your preference. If it's a little too salty, don't worry. The potatoes will absorb some of the salt. Too salty? Eh, remove some of the broth and replace with water until the soup is diluted to your preference.
(5) Add the chopped kale and stir. It'll cook in about the same time as the potatoes.
(6) Get a smaller pot onto boil, and add the linguica. The idea here is to remove the fat from the sausage so it won't turn your green soup red. Hint: spicy linguica is AWESOME in this soup.
Pour off the linguica water, give the sausage a good rinse, then chuck 'em in the soup pot. Stir. Cook until the large potato chunks are tender.
Serve.
