I won’t start gushing again about how much I love green food as I have done already and once I get started I won’t stop!
Today’s recipe is the sister post to my beloved “Green Power Burgers” and is equally delicious but even quicker and easier to put together. I think I’m a fan of most green foods (uh-oh,here I go again…) but I do have a few which stand out…
Broccoli! My very faithful friend. I always turn to broccoli when I’m feeling too tired or lazy to come up with an inventive meal since I know I’ll be happy with anything featuring it prominently. It’s formed the base of many “bowl” meals over the years: lightly steamed and served with some quinoa and pesto or hummus (I always keep homemade on hand), and I’m a happy camper!
Sprouts! Newer to my kitchen but something I’ve learnt to love. I fell out of the habit of growing my own sprouts at home until this post by Ricki reminded me of them and what a fantastic addition they are to our diets. The idea of “sprouting” might sound a little intimidating but I assure you it’s not hard and is actually pretty fun, especially if you don’t have a garden where you can grow things.
I wrote more about sprouts and sprouting here.
Pumpkin Seeds and Basil are our other green friends in this soup and add more great nutrition and flavour (as much as I want my meals to be healthy, I also want them to taste good!).
My Green Power Soup is velvety smooth, full-flavoured and very filling.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Medium onion, chopped
- 1/2 C Pumpkin seeds
- 2 Garlic cloves, minced
- 4 C Broccoli (1 Medium head, broken into florets)
- 4 C Vegetable broth
- 1/3 C (loosely packed) Chopped fresh basil
- 1-2 Tbsp White miso*
- Approx 1 C Sprouts (I used mung bean and china rose radish)
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and add the onion and pumpkin seeds. Cook, stirring regularly for approx 10 minutes, or until the onion is translucent and pumpkin seeds smell fragrant (watch carefully so that they don't burn!)
- Add the garlic and continue to cook for a further minute.
- Add the broccoli and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered for 10-15 minutes, or until the broccoli is soft.
- Remove from heat and stir in the basil and miso.
- Leave to cool somewhat then pour into a high-powered blender ( I used my Froothie!) and blend until very smooth.
- Return to pot to warm through.
- Top each bowl with a handful of sprouts to serve.
Notes
*I use a low sodium broth so prefer nearer 2 tbsp miso.
What’s your favourite green food/meal?
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Gorgeous soup Emma, I could eat a bowlful right this moment considering it’s pouring down outside! Years (and years) ago I used to sprout beans but I haven’t done it recently (it’s all the rinsing). But I do so love sprouts!
It’s been rainy all afternoon here too. It was such a promising start! It’s remembering to rinse which was the problem for me but I started setting little reminders on my phone which worked well!
I think we need a “Green Power” series, no? 😀 The soup looks fabulous. And I LOVE those radish sprouts! I must go look for radish seeds so I can grow my own little pretty rose sprouts, too. So beautiful!
I’m sure I’ve got a few more “Green Power” recipes up my sleeve 😉
You haven’t had chine rose before? They’re pretty peppery but I like that. I’m lucky that my local hfs has a whole range of seeds for sprouting!
i’m not usually a fan of pureed soups, but this looks DELICIOUS. i too am a sucker for green foods. broccoli is my homeboy.
I think that’s a new hashtag 😉
I like soup, most ways to be honest but this one was especially tasty!
I love the sound of this soup, I think I need to use more pumpkin seeds!
They’re something I under-use too but they’re really tasty and so good for us!
srummy looking soup - broccoli is one of my favs too - although I like most green veggie but not OKRA eeewww yukky.
Thank you for the lovely recipe.
Hurrah for broccoli lovers! Okra isn’t my favourite but I don’t actively dislike it. It’s pretty good roasted in coconut oil and I really liked this vegan gumbo recipe from the PPK: http://www.theppk.com/2011/09/okra-gumbo-with-chickpeas-kidney-beans/
I love a good green soup. I like the addition of sprouts which I forget to include in my menus. I’m pinning this one for later. Thanks.
Sprouts are a fantastic ingredient. I loved the fresh crunch they added on top of the creamy soup here
Hope you try this one if you do make it.
Ooh, I just made a pumpkin and miso soup last night! I love the sound of all the greens in this one though.
Pumpkin and miso sounds lovely. At least all those squash and pumpkins are something to look forward to about winter!
You can never go wrong with broccoli!!!
Truth!!
Oh yum - I am all for green goodness! Love broccoli and pumpkin - don’t use pumpkin seeds enough and I have a remains of a packet of sprouts in the fridge that I have been wondering if I could add to a warm meal so it is interesting to see your use of them here.
I loved the fresh, crisp sprouts on the warm creamy soup! I suppose I do usually use them in cold meals though…except for mung bean sprouts which I sometimes throw into curries or stir fry-type meals.
This looks beautiful, and I love the sprouts on top. I do notice I feel much better when green food features heavily in my eating - even if I have lots of vegetables but not many greens, I can tell the difference! I’m sure I’d feel fantastic after eating this.
I’m exactly the same. I get frequent broccoli cravings!
I’m with you on the green foods love! My favorite at the moment is a kale salad with sesame dressing, but really I love most anything green and edible.
Kale with sesame sounds good! Green foods are magical!
YUM! Have any idea if this will freeze well? I’d love to make a bunch now while my basil plants are exploding. Pulling this summer homemade goodness out of the freezer in February would be heavenly…
Sorry I missed your comment Emily! I’m pretty sure the soup would do fine in the freezer. I often freeze soup. Definitely put that basil to good use!
I feel the same way about broccoli! A bowl of it steamed with a grain and sauce = satisfying dinner :). This soup looks wonderful! I’ll have to try it on one of my less lazy days ahah.
At least our lazy dinners are healthy! When I was in Geneva for my internship back in April, I think I ate broccoli bowl variations almost every other night for the whole month!
Gush away! This looks gush worthy in it’s beautiful greeness.
Thanks m’dear! I knew there’d be lots of you who’d appreciate the beauty of green foods! 😉
Agreed - roasted broccoli, when it’s just starting to char at the edges, is one of my favourite ways to serve it! And pumpkin seeds must top my seed love list (a very crowded list). What a great idea to combine them - the colour is so inviting.
I haven’t actually roasted broccoli (or cauliflower!) for what seems like ages! I do love it like that too but as I’m happy with it steamed I don’t make the effort to roast it all that often.
I’m so sorry, somehow I missed this post! This soup sounds absolutely delectable and I love every single ingredient. It is also minimal ingredients, which I loooove! I definitely am printing this one out. I love the sprouts on top…I sprouted lentils for the first time this year and it was so exciting!
Sprouting is exciting, isn’t it?! I feel like a magician when those little tails appear, even though it’s so easy to do.
And yep, just a few ingredients for the soup- “souper” yummy still 😉
Wow, I tried this last night, and it was great!
Awesome! Great to hear that Matt 😀
That looks outrageously healthy and tasty and I am a huge fan of mung bean shoots too x
haha, “outrageously healthy”. I like that! Mung bean sprouts are awesome. They add such a nice freshness here.
I’ve not eaten much broccoli recently and I don’t quite know why. Your soup looks very slurpable and I am now desperate to make a green burger with broccoli.
A green burger with broccoli would be great! I can’t imagine not eating broccoli regularly- I get broccoli cravings!
Luv the Green Soup
My daughter and I are interested in making your soup, but have possible soy allergies. Could we use a different seasoning instead of the miso? Thanks!
Hi Sommer, sorry about the allergies! I know that soy-free miso is available if you can get your hands on some (chickpea/adzuki bean) http://www.thekitchn.com/miso-alternatives-glutenfree-and-soyfree-196043. If not, I’d recommend just omitting and adding some salt. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
Thanks for the reply! I’ll check that out and see what we can do