Description
An easy Portuguese soup; with a twist! Smoky sun-dried tomato subs in for the traditional chouriço in this vegan Portuguese collard soup!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the sun-dried tomato “chouriço” (see notes for another alternative)
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 85g sun-dried tomatoes (dry-packed is best but can use oil-packed)
- 1/2 tsp tamari or soy sauce (can omit, or use a splash of red wine)
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
For the soup:
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil (or broth/water)
- 1 medium white onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 4 cups peeled and diced yellow flesh potatoes (5-6 potatoes)*
- 8 cups vegetable broth (homemade for extra savings! See notes)
- 1 bunch collard greens (leaves only, thinly shredded)*
*Fresh Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- Start by peeling and dicing your potatoes. The smaller you dice them the quicker they will cook. Dice your onion and flatten the sun-dried tomato pieces if they are all curled up. If your sun-dried tomato is oil-packed you can omit the ½ tbsp olive oil, drain the excess oil off the sun-dried tomatoes, and flatten them with a spoon when you add them to the pot in the next step.
- To a large pot over medium low heat add ½ tbsp olive oil if using. Add in the sun-dried tomato pieces and let them cook for a minute. Add in the tamari, liquid smoke, and smoked paprika. Cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes to fully coat the pieces and infuse that flavour. Remove the seasoned sun-dried tomato “chouriço” from the pot and set aside. (It’s ok if the bottom of the pot has become dry and the seasonings a little stuck, that will infuse the soup with more flavour and come loose in the next step).
- To the same pot, add a splash more oil (or broth/water) and saute the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes until softened and fragrant. Season with salt and pepper (I tend to be a little more generous with salt for this recipe as there are no other prominent spices. The traditional soup tends to have a saltier flavour).
- Add the diced potatoes and vegetable broth. Raise the heat and bring the soup to a boil. You can cover the pot to speed up the process, just make sure to watch it closely. Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cover with the lid. Simmer for 6-10 minutes until the potatoes are tender and break apart when pierced with a fork.
- Shred your collard greens while the potatoes are cooking. Cut the leaves away from the thick stem (make sure to reserve the stem and use it diced up in another recipe!). If any of the leaves are really wide you can slice them in half lengthwise so that your shredded pieces aren’t too, too long. You can stack the leaves on one another and roll them up, then slice them as thinly as you can. This way you don’t have to slice each leaf individually.
- When the potatoes are cooked, puree the soup with an immersion blender or allow it to cool enough to add to your stand up blender (in batches if needed). Return the soup to the pot if you had removed it and bring it back up to a simmer.
- Stir in the thinly shredded collards and cook for 5 – 10 minutes to soften the greens. Carefully taste the soup and adjust the salt level if desired.
- To serve, spoon the soup into bowls and top with a few pieces of your reserved smoky sun-dried tomatoes (traditionally there are only 1-3 pieces of chouriço per bowl).
- *If storing leftovers, you can keep the tomatoes separate so that the tomato flavour doesn’t infuse the soup as it sits… but, if you want a bit of tomato flavour and softer sun-dried tomato chouriço, add it in!
- Keeps well for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Notes
Approximate Cost: CAD $9.16 ($1.53/serving) using easy homemade vegetable scrap broth. Using store-bought broth adds roughly $6 bringing the cost to CAD $15.24. Collect your vegetable scraps, freeze them, and when you have enough, boil with water for 30 minutes, strain, and enjoy your flavourful homemade veggie broth!
Feel free to use kale or another sturdy leafy green for this recipe!
If you prefer to avoid the salt in the sun-dried tomatoes, use red kidney beans for that pop of red the traditional chouriço gives the soup!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Portuguese