Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large onion, finely minced
salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 head kale, sliced, and stems diced
4 cups water
1 cup minced parsley
- Add oil to the bottom of a large heavy bottomed pot. Turn on the stove to high heat. When the oil is hot, add your cumin seeds. In about a minute, if you made sure to get the oil good and hot, you'll have the cumin seeds popping and cracking. At this moment, add your onions. Sprinkle in salt to taste. Stir to evenly coat in the oil. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until soft.
- Add the garlic, pepper, and chopped kale, and stir into the onion mixture so that the pieces of kale are evenly coated in the oil. You may have to add the kale in batches if your pot isn't that large. Add a batch, stir it around, and wait for it to wilt down. When there's more room, add subsequent batches and continue to stir and wilt the kale. Sprinkle on salt. Toss through oer the heat for about 5 minutes. Add the water. Bring it to a full boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Allow it to cook for about 20 minutes. When cooked, sprinkle in parsley and let sit about 5 minutes.
Variations:
1 pound diced, cooked potato, stirred in at end; 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced added in 10 minutes before removing from heat; 1 head of cabbage, sliced, added in 10 minutes before finishing; 1 pound zucchini, cut in half lengthewise and sliced into halfmoons, added in roughly 5 minutes before removing from heat; chile oil, added in right at the end of cooking. Add a tsp or so to each bowl of soup; 1 tbsp kimchee; 1 pound cooked chickpeas added in the last 10 minutes of cooking; or 1 pound cooked kidney beans added in the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Combine all the variations to make a very filling soup.
Alternative Vegan, p. 32, Dino Sarma Weierman
