Creamy Kale Soup

 Assessing the contents of my fridge I decided to make a creamy kale soup. I've been on a bit of a kale kick lately because it's not only pretty tasty, but it's terrifically healthy. According to the ANDI system at Whole Foods, Kale is at the top of the charts for healthy eating. There's a nice link here that describes the rating system if you're interested.

So I had some Pacific Organics cream of chicken soup, Tuscan kale, shallots, garlic, onions, carrot  thought they'd make a nice little quick and easy soup. I might add a potato next time to thicken it a bit. Overall it's not near as delicious as say, loaded baked potato soup, but I don't feel the need to go run 5 miles after eating it either.

INGREDIENTS
1 carton Pacific Organics Cream of Chicken
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
5 stalks of kale, stems removed
2 cups spring water
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Gruyere for garnish 

I softened the onions, shallots, garlic, carrots in 1 tbs olive oil about 8 minutes

Picture taken without carrots, but they went in right after

Then I thought, "Wouldn't a little shot of Vermouth make this taste sweet??"

So I added a shot of Vermouth, which ended up being a nice addition. I added the herbs, cream of chicken plus water and simmered about 20 minutes and then added the kale to soften it just a bit- about 2 minutes. I find cooking it too long makes it bitter. 

I threw it all in the Vitamix on high for about 1 minute...

The Vitamix has quite possibly been one of the best investments I've ever made!!

I served it in a soup crock and garnished with some gruyere cheese and shared some with the puppies too. They loved it!