a healthy soup for a hearty appetite

I licked my bowl clean at carrot ginger soup at Bugatti in Coral Gables. The very next night, less than 24 hours later, I tried to make a quick call in post yoga class and scoop up a container to-go; while this sounds like an on-the-fly decision it was a calculated move and there were several downward facing dogs sustained by the promise of Bugatti's carrot ginger soup sipped from my couch.

Turns out, they don't do takeout at Bugatti - they won't do takeout at Bugatti. They refused, I begged. I vowed to make a healthy, non-dairy based, vegetable soup of my own.

Now, I don't need Bugatti and they're snooty no-takeout policy! I have this coconut milk based broccoli and kale soup, a totally original recipe that I'm totally proud of.

As you can imagine, a kale and broccoli soup is, by design, a healthy soup. I'm a JugoFresh fan, I like Choices, a frequent customer of The Last Carrot and a newbie to the culty Beehive Natural Foods; I want to be healthy but I'm a girl with a hearty appetite (see: Macchialina, Best Food Coma In Town). This is a soup that's satisfying as a meal and has nothing in it but coconut milk, broccoli, kale, onion and garlic.

Vegan Broccoli and Kale Spiced Soup 

Vegetable measurements are pretty loose. This serves two full bowls.

1 small head of broccoli, chopped

1/4 sweet yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves chopped garlic

two handfulls of kale (any variety is fine, if you don't have kale handy spinach or arugula would work fine, but we're fans of kale for the superfood value and earthy flavor)

1 teaspoon yellow curry powder

1 can light coconut milk (available in the Asian aisle at the grocery store)

juice of 1/2 an orange or 1 lime

Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Add broccoli and onion and saute until broccoli is bright green and onions have softened. Add kale and stir to cook evenly for about five minutes - it doesn't really matter how cooked any of the ingredients are, this soup would probably work raw, but we like to get them nice and toasty, cooked through. Add garlic and curry powder and still until curry powder coats the vegetables, about a minute.

Pour coconut milk over and reduce heat to low. Let sit until the coconut milk starts to bubble. Take off heat and mix with immersion blender*. If you don't have an immersion blender (get one, they're great for making soups on the fly and fresh salsas etc, a totally beginner friendly tool that makes you feel like a real Top Chef and are super easy to clean) wait for the soup to cool and blend in a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. Add juice from orange or lime.

Reheat if necessary and serve.

All vegetables courtesy of Jerry's fresh fruit and vegetable stand at the Coral Gables Framer's Market (Saturdays), Pinecrest Farmer's Market at Pincrest Gardens (formerly Parrot Jungle) and the Ocean Reef Farmer's Market.