They say accessories make an outfit, but the expression is rarely used when it comes to food. Ingredients like onions, garlic, and spices are traditionally used as important garnishes or flavor bases, but they are usually the foundation of a meal, not the stars.
This simple soup recipe reverses the normal cast listing of a meal. The stars are the things you throw in your grocery cart as an afterthought, or the things you get in your CSA and sit your fridge for weeks getting mushy. Adding vegetables to the broth base is the equivalent of making stock, and the otherwise annoying ends of some of my personal favorites–namely, those super hairy fennel fronds, which are too delicious to just discard but the bane of my OCD existence–still get stage time, only blended up in the soup itself.
You can as always personalize the spice and herb blend to your preference; using basil instead of dill would make it a little sweeter, and squash instead of broccoli more neutral (or, rather, just more garlicy and oniony).
No matter what you accessorize this soup with, though, you’ll enjoy all the benefits of onion and garlic (also in the onion family): their high amounts of biotin and other B vitamins, manganese, vitamin C, plus anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties.
Spiced Garlic Soup
Ingredients
- 3 bulbs garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 1 large carrot
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/2 stalk broccoli plus leaves
- 4 leaves kale coarsely hopped
- 1 cup fresh dill plus more for garnish
- 1 bulb’s fennel fronds chopped (only the hairy parts)
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 tablespoon turmeric
- 1/2 tablespoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 heaping tablespoon coconut yogurt
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 °F. Remove 1/2 inch from the top of the garlic bulbs and peel some, not all, of the outside skin. Place facedown in a small baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the exposed garlic is brown and the bulbs feel soft. Let cool.
- Meanwhile, in a large pot combine chopped onion and carrot and coconut oil; sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables, spices, herbs, water, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and tamari. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Let the soup mostly cool, at least 15 minutes, off the stovetop.
- When the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the roasted cloves into the bowl of a food processor. Add a splash of water and blend until smooth. I threw in a few of the roasted skins for flavor, but you don’t have to.
- When the liquid is cool, blend with the garlic in batches, adding the coconut yogurt and nutritional yeast in proportion to the number of batches you blend.
- Divide soup into bowls and serve at room temperature. Top with a fresh dill sprig or other spices of your choice.
Inspired by Eat Drink Paleo’s Thirty-Clove Garlic and Onion Soup.
Originally published on Peaceful Dumpling
