Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Soup), is something I grew up eating at both restaurants and my Avo's (grandmother's) house. It is a thin potato based soup with collard greens and portuguese chorizo. Simple, tasty, and inexpensive to make.
My dad called me last week to tell me about a great soup he started making at his bar and grill. He had essentially added more life and color to the traditional Caldo Verde. I told him I would give it a try for myself. I am calling this recipe colorful caldo verde because it essentially takes the framework of the simple soup I grew up eating and adds more nutrients to create a great meal. It was cheap to make and fed me several times. Thanks dad, for the inspiration :)
colorful caldo verde
Ingredients:
- 48 oz chicken broth, I bought mine, but if you make your own that's even better!
- olive oil
- 4 stalks of celery
- 5 carrots, peeled
- a big bunch of kale
- 1 can of beans
- ~ 1 lb potatoes of choice
- chorizo, portuguese if you can find it, I could only find spanish (remember: you want already cooked NOT fresh/raw)
- salt, pepper, cayenne to taste
my ingredients came from the farmers market, whole foods, and leftover veggies in the fridge :)
Directions
1. Rinse off carrots, kale, celery & potatoes.
I picked up my kale at the farmers market! Make sure you rinse it really well if you are buying a big bunch like this.
2. Chop up celery. Peel and chop carrots. Place celery and carrots into a pot and pour in chicken broth. Turn on the stove and let things start to heat up.
3. Meanwhile, cut up your potatoes. I used red potatoes and cut each potato into about 12 pieces. Put those into the pot.
4. Let the broth come to a boil, you want those potatoes to cook.
i added some salt and pepper here, for good measure
5. Cut up your chorizo, add that in next.
6. Next, add the beans.
7. While that continues to simmer we want to cut up that kale. As you will see in my pictures I left some of the leaves as big stalks because I like the crunchiness from the stems. If you want the kale completely wilted just cut off the stems and cut each leaf into smaller pieces.
8. Add the kale in slowly, using your spoon to push the kale into the broth as you go.
9. Continue to push the kale down into the broth until it has all wilted. Add more salt, pepper, and cayenne if you like some spice! Allow it to simmer. If you prefer a more brothy soup with lots of chunks, you can serve and enjoy like this.
10. I prefer my soups a bit thicker, so I let it continue to simmer for a good 20 minutes. I used the back of the spoon to break up the potatoes, which by now will be extremely soft.
my potato thickened finished product.
Enjoy as a main dish or on the side of some meat. Don't forget to add some fat for a balanced meal! Try it with avocado or full-fat sour cream!
Hope you enjoy this Colorful Caldo Verde, perfect to warm you up on a chilly day.
:)
