A spicy raw green smooth Cavolo nero soup recipe made with a Vitamix blender.
What’s green and goes red at the flick of a switch? The answer – brace yourselves for being grossed out – is a frog in a liquidiser.
Although a die-hard Muppets and Kermit the Frog fan, this was my all time favourite joke when I was my son’s age. Indeed I had many favourite jokes and used to sit in the car reading them aloud to my long suffering parents.
Totally my favourite joke book of all was called “The End” by Puffin Books. I had a tatty dog eared copy with some even tattier and more dog eared children on the cover.
I would have ordered it from my primary school’s marvellous regular Puffin Book Club catalogue which I used to look forward to taking home to choose my next book. Today I have just ordered myself a replacement second hand on Amazon for I believe it will be right up Ted’s street now he’s almost exhausted his Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Joke Book.
The cover announced “The End” as “even worse than The Crack-a-Joke Book” (then a bestseller) and “the worst… most awful… side-splitting… ghastly… jokes… limericks… knock knocks… puns… riddles.” I can vouch it definitely lived up to this with a foreword by Fungus the Bogeyman himself.
And it was my soup today that reminded me of this old joke. For my ingredients started out orange but turned frog coloured once the Vitamix had done its five minute soup program blitz.
Now I won’t lie. Soup made with raw veg is an acquired taste – rather like wheat grass shots in Crussh. But once you’ve got your head around that, it oozes freshness in every spoonful. To spice things up I added a generous tablespoon of Thai massala curry paste (although it occurs to me now Thai green curry paste would be more suitable).
If I’m honest I never imagined this soup would go quite so green. I thought it might have green bits in it but be mainly orange. Well duh, the Vitamix doesn’t “do” bits so lurid green, spicy soup we have and it’s all the better for it.
Cavolo nero is something I was first introduced to in the River Cafe Cookbook. In the late 90s, even in west London it was tough to track down but this batch today came from the Tesco Finest range. If you’ve not tried it before it’s a similar intensity to spinach but with tougher leaves more in common with Savoy cabbage. I saved money on a buy one get another half price type offer and it kept for weeks in the fridge drawer hence my reference below to the No Food Waste Challenge and Credit Crunch Munch.
I am currently roadtesting a machine supplied with the compliments of Vitamix.
- 3 left over leaves cavolo nero
- 1 onion
- 400ml can coconut milk
- 200ml water
- 1 tbsp Thai curry paste
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- Half a butternut squash, skin still on
- 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
- Pinch of salt (optional - I used black salt)
- Place all ingredients into the Vitamix jug.
- Replace the lid firmly.
- Set to "soup program".
- Stand back and wait for about five minutes.
- Serve with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and a pinch of salt - I am enamoured with my Swedish black salt at the moment but you can use whatever you have.
I am linking up to these events:
- Simple and in Season hosted by Ren
- Helen and Camilla’s Credit Crunch Munch, currently hosted by Taste of Lancashire.
- Helen and Michelle’s Extra Veg event this month hosted by Michelle Utterly Scrummy
- Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary’s No Waste Food Challenge this month hosted by Michelle Utterly Scrummy
- No Croutons Required hosted by Jacc at Tinned Tomatoes
- And finally Shaheen’s new Eat Your Greens challenge at Allotment2Kitchen
Other Kermit coloured green soup recipes you might like:
Fat free lettuce and pea soup by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours
5 minute green smoothie soup by Jacc at Tinned Tomatoes
Creamy asparagus soup by Michelle at Greedy Gourmet
Heston Blumenthal’s Pea and Ham Soup featured by Gary Big Spud
Wow, what a quick and healthy soup and I’m so surprised at not removing the butternut squash skin. Just need a Vitamix now to try it:-) Thanks for entering Credit Crunch Munch:-)
I always eat my butternut skins, they’re the best bit although admittedly I usually cook them.
I used to tell that joke as a child, thanks for linking up to Credit crunch munch. Gribbit !!
Gribbit 😉
That’s one of my favourite jokes from childhood Sarah – just seeing those book covers took me right back as we had those copies too!!! I also loved the Ha Ha Bonk Book which I bought for Sam last year in a fit of nostalgia… That soup sounds delicious and looks super healthy!
Ooh yes I remember Ha Ha Bonk too, I must look that one up too.
How interesting, I have never tried the butternut skin, that’s probably where a lot of the nutrients are. Love the name of your soup.
They’re very tasty on roasted butternut, you must try them.
Well unthinking a a fabulous colour soup! Looks very virtuous. Reminded me of something from champneys. I must admit that I giggled at your joke too. Silly but I’m sure my daughter told me one like it. The oldies are the goodies
Amazing colour, I feel healthier just looking at that soup!
I so want a vitamix now, but it will have to wait. Thank you so much for sharing this gorgeous green spicy green soup to Eat Your Greens. Pls come back end of the month for the round up and next theme, I hope you will join in again.
What a vibrant colour and a fab, quick and healthy supper. Thanks so much for entering No Waste Food Challenge this month 🙂
I’m in love with this soup Sarah and I am in blender soup mode just now too. I made a tomato, spinach and coriander today, but it didn’t have this beautiful colour. The No Croutons Required roundup is now up x
What a beautifully vibrant soup! Love it! Thank you for sharing with the no waste food challenge 🙂