#green soup

[g-lamia-khalil]

سحر الملوخية

💚🥰

[dvoeverie-stitches]

Zelené Polévky (Green Soup) for Maundy Thursday

The folk meaning of collecting and eating green plants on Green/Maundy Thursday is to ensure health, strength and vitality throughout the coming year. This custom symbolizes the awakening spring nature, brings abundance and has a cleansing effect on the body. In folk belief, the color green and green foods were a powerful symbol of protection against diseases—whoever eats something green on Maundy Thursday will be healthy all year round.

Traditional herbs in the Czech lands might have included: kopřiva (nettle), bršlice (ground elder), pampeliška (dandelion), šťovík (Sorrel), ptačinec (chickweed) and popenec obecný (ground ivy). In more modern times the green soups and sauces began to include plants such as spinach and cabbage. I’ve also seen recipes including peas and zucchini.

In addition to food, it was also traditional to get up before sunrise, when the morning dew had healing effects. People would wash themselves with the dew to protect themselves from skin diseases. I have to admit I didn’t get up that early. 😉

My Maundy/Green Thursday foraging basket

A traditional Central European green soup might have been built like this (though all you really need is nettles):

Base layer

Usually kopřiva (stinging nettle) sometimes: young spinach (later adaptation), ground elder (bršlice) in wild-foraged versions

Role: provides body, nutrition, thickness

Today’s local flora substitution: dead-nettle. I found my first stinging (heart-leaf) nettle this week at a trip to the Arkansas river, but I didn’t have anything with me to harvest without aggravating my skin. I definitely plan on returning.

Bulk/soft green layer

jitrocel (plantain), bršlice (ground elder), ptačinec (chickweed), mladé byliny (misc. young greens)

Role:

softens stronger greens, adds volume without strong flavor, makes soup feel “lush”

Today’s local flora substitution: violet in addition to a local plantain

Bold/bitter layer

pampeliška (dandelion), čekanka (chicory, wild types), sometimes wild lettuce-type bitter greens

Role:

digestive “cleansing”, symbolic removal of winter stagnation, sharp edge to contrast richness. Used in smaller proportion than base greens.

Today’s local flora substitution: wasn’t a substitution! I had both dandelions and wild lettuce

Bright/aromatic/sour layer

šťavel (wood sorrel), sometimes fermented souring agents (later folk cooking), occasional aromatic herbs in tiny amounts

Again, I didn’t have to substitute, I actually found wood sorrel, I also added a splash of vinegar at the end of cooking.

Role:

brightness, “spring awakening” effect, lifts heavy greens and cream, always small quantity, added near the end.

Bonus layer: aromatic medicinal accents (very small amounts)

popenec (ground ivy), wild garlic and/or onion, herbs like parsley/lovage

Role:

complexity, medicinal “wildness”, not structural

I used store bought garlic and spring onion.

Fat Layer:

Milk, cream, butter, egg

Role:

to soften the harsher spring greens, nourishment after scarcity

My Recipe

I used two different historical recipes as a base for this year’s soup.

First from the Austrian, South Bohemia, Znojmo (my ancestral region) border around 1910:

and secondly one specifically from Znojmo.

In my version I brought 5 cups of salted water to a boil, dropped the heat to medium low and added 4 spoonfuls of grits (my substitute for semolina). After the grits softened I added a mixture of milk and some Mexican crema (about 2 cups combined) I had left from carnitas last week. I also added a splash of mirin as a substitute for the eine and sugar. I then added the chopped foraged plants, 2 large chopped spring onion, and 1 clove of minced garlic. I also added a splash of vinegar. I let it simmer for 15 or so minutes and then poached two eggs in the soup.

Before I served myself I made sure bit to forget Deěduška.

[deliciously-vegan]

Kolkas

(Egyptian Taro Root & Greens Stew)

[[MORE]]

4 cups chopped taro root

1 tbsp olive oil 1 white onion, peeled and chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 tbsp olive oil 1 head kale, roughly chopped (hard stems removed)

1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves 2 cups vegetable bouillon The juice of one lime

4 cups vegetable bouillon 1 block extra-firm tofu, diced 1 tsp coriander 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp cardamom 1/4 tsp cloves 1/4 tsp allspice 2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp sea salt 1/4 tsp black pepper

Place chopped taro root in a large bowl. Cover with water and set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in large saucepan over low heat. Sauté onion for several minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add 1 more tbsp of olive oil then stir in kale. Cook for several more minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. 

Place sautéed veggies along with the cilantro, lime juice and 2 cups vegetable bouillon in a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth. Transfer back to saucepan.

Drain and rinse chopped taro. Add to saucepan. Stir in the; additional 4 cups bouillon, tofu, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, and bay leaves. Turn heat to high. Bring stew to a boil then reduce to low heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Pluck out the bay leaves and add salt and pepper. 

Ladle into bowls and serve as a soup or over rice.

[askwhatsforlunch]

Green Soup with Cheese Dumplings (Vegetarian)

This fragrant Green Soup with Cheese Dumplings is lean enough to make it suitable for a late supper, but also deliciously comforting, especially on a chill, rainy evening.

Ingredients (serves 2):

3 small leeks

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

7 cups water

1 cup plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon baking powder

30 grams/1 ounce Mature English Cheddar

½ cup skimmed milk

1 1/2 cup frozen broccoli

Thoroughly rinse leeks under cold water, especially if they are Garden Leeks, to remove all dirt.

Finely chop leeks and spoon into a large pot. Add coarse sea salt, black pepper, and cover with water. Cover with the lid and set aside, half an hour. This will allow the broth to be very fragrant.

Heat Leek broth over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine flour, salt, black pepper and baking powder in a medium bowl. Grate in Mature Cheddar, and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Then, stir in milk.

Remove the lid from the pot. Spoon heaped tablespoons of the dumpling mixture into the pot. You should have about 8. Stir in broccoli. Cover with the lid, and cook, a further 15 minutes.

Serve Green Soup with Cheese Dumplings hot.

[kaihihanto]

mom: I also cooked green soup, like those green eggs and ha-

me: what.

[fregolicotard]

22.07.2019

Do you have the feeling that if you start your Monday properly then the whole week is going to be good?  I think that if Monday morning I’m productive from the very start, then I’ll be motivated to work hard the entire week. 

#203of365

[lemonthymeblog]

Immune-Boosting Green Soup // Vegan recipe here >>

[mike13mt]

Soup of sorrel and nettles by nikolay_2002