Green soup

1. Onion / leeks – Use either one of each, as shown in the base recipe and recipe video, or use either 2 leeks or 2 onions. Leek has a slightly sweeter, more rounded flavour which I like to use when they’re on special! 2. Fennel adds a great flavour base to this soup so really try not to skip it. For those who are not a fan of the aniseed flavour of fennel, don’t worry, you can’t taste it! 3. Just water is required for this soup. We don’t need chicken or other stock for a flavour backing, like I use for most soup recipes. We’re essentially making a homemade vegetable stock here! 4. Peas can be substituted with more broccoli, fennel or potato. 5. Kale – Nutrition booster! In case you’re concerned about a strong kale flavour, don’t worry! With everything else going on in the soup, the kale flavour is not really there. Substitute with more baby spinach or English spinach. Or 300 – 400g frozen kale or spinach (thawed, excess water lightly squeezed out). To remove kale leaves, enclose your hand around the base of the stem then run your enclosed fist up the stem to strip the leaves off. To measure, push the kale leaves really tightly into the measuring cup. Jam pack it in! 6. Baby spinach – Substitute with English spinach, or more kale. To measure, jam pack it really tightly into a measuring cup! 7. Cream alternative – To make this vegan, use a vegan cream (available at some grocery stores these days), coconut cream or coconut milk (it will add a touch of coconut flavour which I think would be nice). 8. Sunflower seeds – To toast, preheat a small pan (no oil) over medium high heat then toast the sunflower seeds, stirring or shaking the pan every now and then, until light golden. Do the same with other nuts/seeds of choice (pine nuts, pepitas, almond flakes would be nice). For croutons, use the directions in the Celeriac soup recipe. 9. Nutrition per serving, about 2 1/2 cups per serving (generous meal!).