Kale, Broccoli & Spinach Pesto Soup

Posted by thesensitivefoodie on April 9, 2014 in Egg Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Paleo, Vegetarian | 10 Comments

I haven’t had  a proper holiday in years, and by proper I mean more than a long weekend. I am so excited at the moment, my hubby and I have booked a 5 week holiday to Italy in August!! YAY! A good friend is getting married in Tuscany, and Italy has been on our wish list for so long, so we decided to make a holiday of it (Australia is so far from anywhere, so if we are going to travel half way across the world, may as well make the most of it). We’ve never had a big holiday, our longest break in the past 16 years is 2.5 week, we won’t know ourselves. I’m a bit jealous that my husband will be able to have pizza, pasta and gelato, but I’m sure there will be lots of yummy things I can still have. The 4 month wait until we leave seems so far off, but I am using it as an opportunity to get as fit and healthy as I can  so I can replace the food focus to an activity focus for the holiday – and so I can lug around a backpack and make it up all these steep hills and steps in Cinque Terre 🙂

So far the health kick is going great – I’m loving it, I seem to have my balance perfect and I haven’t been hungry or  craving anything, which is making it so much easier. One of the best things I’ve found is Hexey, they deliver fresh organic meals each day. You can get all your meals, but I have just been getting week-night dinners for us. And they make my meals dairy, egg & gluten free with no extra charge – it doesn’t get much better than that, oh, and they are delicious!  It has really helped me get a great routine going, before I struggled with getting home around 8pm, and then trying to cook a healthy dinner, plus my husband comes home anywhere from 8pm to 2am so that always threw my plans off too (the joys of having our own business).  Now I get home and heat up my dinner and I know I am eating really healthy and it gives me time to do other things, like go to the gym.

I love soups, and with the cooler weather coming on, I think they are the perfect lunch. My other half isn’t as keen on soups as I am, so I am trying to make them as nutrient dense but really tasty as I can, to get him on board. I’ve been cooking up a freezer full of super healthy soups that we can take to work for lunches. So far, this one is my favourite, it’s packed full of greens and tastes amazing. We needed something a bit more substantial to go with the soups, and this ‘life changing loaf‘ by My New Roots is absolutely perfect. It is mainly just mixed seeds, almonds and oats. I am in love with this ‘bread’ it tastes unbelievable, I’m loving it with peanut butter too – yum! (Here is a link to the recipe on My New Roots blog. If you check out my Facebook page, I’ve listed the ingredients I used in mine).

Suitable for: gluten, egg, soy and cows dairy free and vegetarian diets

Ingredients (serves 8)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large bunch of curly leaf kale, roughly chop leaves

3 medium or 2 large heads of broccoli, broken into florets

150g baby spinach leaves

2 large brown onions, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 litres vegetable stock

1 bunch fresh basil leaves, I used nearly to whole bunch.

1 cup finely grated sheeps milk pecorino (or other hard cheese like parmesan, etc if lactose isn’t a problem)

salt & pepper

Optional – lemon wedges to serve

Instructions

1. In a large pot, add oil and heat over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add the stock and broccoli to the pot and let simmer for about 10-15 mins or until softened. Add the kale, spinach and basil leaves and stir until wilted.

2. Let cool, and then blend ingredients. I use a hand blender, but you can put into a blender in batches. Once blended to your desired consistency, return to the stovetop and bring to a simmer. Add the cheese, and then taste, the cheese adds a saltiness, so then add salt and pepper to taste after the cheese is stirred through.

3. Simmer the soup until it reaches our desired consistency, and then serve.

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