Kale Soup

Ever find yourself chewing on a couple leaves of kale while simultaneously tapping through the tv channels looking to fill the idle time with anything...just anything? Neither have I (not often anyway). What I HAVE found, is that this nutrient rich green lasts for about five to seven days in my crisper, despite me gnawing away at it over the week. That being said, I usually end up with more kale than I know what to do with...I've exhausted the rinse and eat, light oil sautee, cream it down, or crisp it up variations in prep diversity. Now it's time to introduce another modification to cozy up to for the times when L.A. becomes a wee too cold for my sun-hungry ways: Kale Soup.

Ingredients

Prep Time: ~12-15 min

Servings: 2 Cups

2 Cups Water
2 Teaspoons Lime Juice

2 Cloves Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper

2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes, Low-Sodium

1 1/2 Cups Kale, Chopped
2 Tablespoons Milk, Nonfat, optional
Salt and Pepper, as desired
Crushed Red Pepper, to garnish

In a saucepan, heat water with garlic, lime, and crushed red pepper to a medium-high boiling and dissolve  the bouillon. Add salt and pepper as desired. Rinse and chop up the kale greens (stems and all) and toss in the pot; decrease to medium boiling. Cook until leaves are a deep green and stems are softened (greens will pale in color when overcooked; keep a watchful eye). Pour heated soup into a food processor. Leaving an air hole for the steam, pulse a few seconds at a time until greens are at a fine chop; if 'some' cream is desired, now's the time to pour in a tablespoon or two of milk. Pour into a serving bowl and sprinkle with red chili flakes. It's fresh; it's tasty. Enjoy!!

Note: Replace water + bouillon with 2 cups of chicken stock if you have it available!