Kale and Black Eyed Pea Soup

Okay y'all. This month has been insane. Between adding extra hours at work, meeting with publishers, trying to get a new single recorded, rehearsing, and helping my sister move to Nashville, I've been beyond stressed. So last weekend, when I went through a tough break-up with my previous boyfriend, I knew I needed to take a step back and find some peace and comfort somewhere.

Soup is one of those beautiful food items that can be SO many different things. It exists in some form in almost every single culture, and there are probably only a handful of foods in the entire world that couldn't be transformed into a soup. The best part about that is you can take whatever leftover odds and ends you have in your fridge/cupboard and make them into something wonderful.

Personally, I had been holding onto the last few bunches of kale from the farmer's market, plus a few red bliss potatoes, garlic, chicken broth, and a 1/4 bottle of lovely red wine (Gerard Betrand Cotes De Rhone, to be specific). On one of the first cool, crisp evenings this year, I walked to the produce market down the street and picked up some soup essentials: carrots and a big yellow onion, plus a couple cans of organic black eyed peas, which I have loved since before I could speak.

I cooked a big pot of soup from scratch, which took me 4 whole days to finish, but the flavors marinated and developed each night in the fridge beautifully. In fact, my last bowl of it that I scarfed down for breakfast yesterday was probably the best.

If you are going through a tough, stressful time, or if you just want to cook something that makes you feel happy and warm, I hope this soup provides a little comfort.

Kale and Black Eyed Pea Soup (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan if you sub veggie broth)

• 2 cans organic black eyed peas, drained
• approx 2 cups curly kale, washed, chopped fine
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped fine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped fine
• 1 large zucchini, chopped into bite size pieces
• 4-5 small red bliss potatoes, chopped into bite size pieces
• approx 40oz chicken or vegetable broth
• approx 1/2 cup wine (red or white both work great!)
• fresh herbs (I used sage and herbes de provence)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

*This recipe may seem a little odd if you've never made soup before, because each element is added at a different time, rather than all-together. The reason for this is that each ingredient cooks differently and behaves differently when boiled, so the goal is to build a base and slowly add on to ensure everything is perfectly done at the same time.

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium/high heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, sage, cayenne, and fresh herbs. When the onions start to sweat and become translucent, add the potatoes and a little bit of salt and pepper. Continue to stir for a few minutes, then add the kale, plus a little more salt and pepper. Cover the pot and let it all cook down for 4-5 minutes. When the kale is softened, stir in the zucchini. Slowly pour in the chicken broth, followed by the wine, and let it all come to a boil. After it's been boiling for a couple minutes, turn the heat down to a little less than medium/low, cover, and cook until the potatoes are cooked all the way through. For me, this took approx 20-25 minutes. The last step, after the potatoes are cooked, is adding the black eyed peas, and bringing the soup back up to a boil for a few minutes. Continue to taste the broth and add more salt, wine or herbs to taste. 

Serve hot with crusty bread and a nice glass of wine. Or just eat it out of the pot. No one's judging you ;)