Cool Evenings Call for Warm Soup

We are fortunate at Mother Hubbard's Cupboard to have our produce shelves regularly stocked with some of the finest food on earth. During the growing season here in Indiana, we regularly receive fresh veggies from our own Hub Gardens, as well as donations from the gardens of our neighbors and friends.  The supplier of the majority of our food, Hoosier Hills Food Bank, also maintains a large garden, though I like to refer to it as a small farm. Their gardens at Detmer Park feature long rows of expertly managed crops of cabbages, beets, tomatoes, kale, radishes, eggplant...and it comes to us clean and organized, in large, black pop-up crates. I feel so proud to offer this high quality food to our pantry patrons, knowing it was grown without chemicals, less than 4 miles away, and harvested the same morning it appears on our shelves.

This week gorgeous bouquets of rainbow chard graced our produce cart, and we had the chance to share with our patrons a delicious soup I had just discovered in Deborah Madison's latest book Vegetable Literacy. A smooth and creamy green soup, spiked with sharp hints of cumin and lime seemed just the right thing for these cool autumnal days. Our patrons enjoyed samples as they passed through the pantry, and you can find the recipe here.

Chard Soup With Cumin and Lime

Adapted from Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy

For 4-6

8 cups packed trimmed chard leaves (about 1 pound or 20 leaves)

2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 onion, sliced

1 small potato, scrubbed and sliced

1 carrot, scrubbed and sliced

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ cup sour cream or yogurt

Freshly ground pepper

Grated zest and juice of one lime

Rinse the chard, chop it coarsely and set aside in a colander to drain.

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, potato and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, to soften. Stir in the tomato paste, smashing it into the vegetables, and then add the cumin., coriander and chard leaves. Sprinkle 1 ½ teaspoons salt over the top, cover the pan and allow the leaves to cook down substantially before adding 5 cups water. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer, cover partially, and simmer until the potato has softened. Puree with a stick blender until smooth (you can do this right in the pot). Add the sour cream and blend again. Return the soup to gentle heat. Taste for salt, season with pepper, and stir in the lime zest and juice. Ladle into bowls and serve.