Shelly E's Blended Green Soup

Originally posted to Full of Veggies 9/11/06

Blended Green Soup
by Shelly E on Dr. Fuhrman's Member Center

6 cups water
1 to 1 1/2 cups of dried beans or green lentils (3 cups when cooked)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaping TBS of dried parsley
1 heaping tsp of dried basil
1 heaping tsp of dried sage
1 heaping tsp of dried chervil
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped
3-4 zucchinis (chop ends but leave whole)
1 head of cabbage (left mostly whole but cored)
1 bunch of collards (remove thick stem but leave whole)
1 bunch of kale (remove thick stem, leave whole)
1 bunch of broccoli (cut off thick stem again, but leave whole)
1 cup frozen green peas (thawed)
1 cup frozen chopped green beans (thawed)
1 cup frozen corn
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (no salt added) I pulse it in my blender first to "spread out" the tomato taste.
1 package of broccoli sprouts (optional, lends a different flavor)

Cook beans (soaked overnight if necessary) in water till tender. Drain and reserve water. Put beans aside. In a VERY large pot add: water from the cooked beans, onion, garlic, seasonings, carrots, celery. Then add the bigger uncut whole vegetables: Cabbage, broccoli, zucchinis, and collards/ kale (broccoli sprouts if using) on top. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about45-60 minutes. Then ladle some of the water from the bottom and blend all the greens up in small batches in a blender. Use some of the liquid from the canned diced tomatoes if need be. Place all back in the pot and then add diced tomatoes, green peas, green beans, and corn and cook till they are tender, about another 15-20 minutes. Add cooked beans.

Nicole's changes: I cooked a whole 1 pound bag of green lentils for this and portioned them out into 1 cup servings and ladled the cooked soup over the top. I added a little bit of black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and omitted the green peas ('cause I don't like them) and added a whole bag of frozen green beans. I didn't bother to heat the soup after blending the greens and adding in the tomatoes, corn, and green beans.

The blended greens came out very thick and hearty. The taste is very fresh and healthy and tasty! The recipe made 7+ servings for me. Very good!