The present US government guidelines suggest adults eat 3 cups (for men) and 2 ½ cups (for women) of vegetables a day. That is if they are chopped vegetables or cooked greens. But if you’re going for leafy greens raw you need 2 cups of leafy greens to make up for one cup of veggies according to the US gov’s ‘Choose My Plate’ website. That’s a lot, and it reminds me of the time when I was on the grapefruit diet (remember that?) and I dreamt that I turned into a rabbit... That’s another story, but we do need our veggies and currently, there is a trend focusing on plant based foods.

Some people never got over the ‘I don’t like vegetables’ stage, and even as adults do not like their greens. When I hosted a dinner up in Hollywood hills, a friend’s friend declared, as he sat at the dinner table, that he doesn’t eat green food. There goes the dinner, at least for him, broccoli soup AND the vegetable served with the pork was spinach that night. I also have a client that doesn’t eat ANY vegetables, I mean nothing. We had a moment, when I roasted some cauliflower and she not only ate it but LIKED it. That was progress, she promptly faced-time her husband to report.

So, how to get those obligatory greens in your diet? An easy way is to have it in soups. Spinach soup comes to mind as healthy and delicious and if you make a batch you can have it all week. All three recipes I list here do not require sautéing onions or other veggies to develop the flavor. And not much chopping is involved either except the potatoes and green onions in spinach soup no.2.

Spinach Soup I (Zuppa di Spinaci) - For my family, one of our go-to restaurants in Montecito, near Santa Barbara was Trattoria Mollie, an Italian restaurant in the Lower Village owned and run by Mollie Ahlstrand. It also happens to be Oprah Winfrey’s favorite restaurant in that area. Mollie always has spinach soup on the menu. It is simple and straightforward. Locals thought that there was some secret ingredient to make it vibrant green, I don’t think that’s it. The trick is to not overcook it. I found a recipe from Emilia-Romagna region which is very close to the soup that Mollie serves, and I’ve been making it with a few tweaks. It’s a quick and incredibly easy to make. I blend it like Mollie does her soup and I have simplified the process from the recipe I found. Although it has very few ingredients, I managed to adapt it to suit friends’ various dietary restrictions including the FodMap diet. Classically, as in the original Emilia-Romagna recipe, the soup is not blended and it is served over bread.

Spinach Soup I (Zuppa Di Spinaci)

Ingredients Serves: 6

1 lb spinach

4 cups water or vegetable stock

2 TBS olive oil

2 TBS butter

Pinch grated nutmeg

Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

1. Wash the spinach and put aside.

2. Boil the water/stock and add the olive oil and butter to melt. Add spinach, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cheese. Turn off the heat and stir.

3. Let it cool and then blend the soup. A standard blender is fine.

4. To serve, reheat on low carefully bring to a simmer. Serve with more cheese and nutmeg. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Adapted from La Cucina the Regional Cooking of Italy, The Italian Academy of Cuisine

Note: This elegant soup has a thin consistency. If you want a more substantial version make it the classic way. The original recipe uses beef broth and the spinach is chopped instead of blended and served over fried or toasted bread.

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes

Spinach Soup II (Spinach Soup) - Another spinach soup recipe is from an old vegetarian cookbook I found lying around at a friend’s house. It is written by film screen writer Anna Thomas, titled Vegetarian Epicure Book Two, originally published in 1978. The simply titled “Spinach Soup” is very easy with few ingredients. It has potatoes and sour cream and the beauty of this soup is that it is delicious hot and it is delicious cold.

Spinach Soup II (with potatoes and green onions)

Ingredients Serves 6

8 cups water

1 lb of spinach

2 medium-large potatoes

¾ cup sliced green onions

½ cup sour cream

2 TBS lemon juice

Method

1. Heat water in a large pot. Wash the spinach leaves carefully and remove the stems.

2. Peel the potatoes and cut them in half inch dice.

3. Add the spinach leaves, the potatoes, and half the green onions to the water with a little salt and pepper, and simmer the soup very gently for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

4. Add the remaining green onions and ladle out about a cup of hot water into the sour cream. Whisk the sour cream and broth together and stir it back into the soup. Add 1 ½ tablespoons of lemon juice and let the soup simmer for another hour.

5. Add more salt and pepper as needed, and the remainder of the lemon juice if the soup is not tart enough for your taste.

*Serve the soup hot or cold as you like.

Source: Anna Thomas, Vegetarian Epicure Book Two

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook time: 2 hours Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Spinach Soup III (Spinach Soup with Coriander, Lemon & Tahini) The third spinach soup is from a recipe I recently came across in the New York Times Magazine, created by a professional chef that was on a cleanse. I don’t think the soup is a cleanser but its yummy. She insists on the best quality chicken stock. I have to respectfully disagree. I find that chicken or other meat stocks used in vegetable soups overwhelm the flavour of the vegetable. Remember the stock isn’t the leading star but a supporting cast. For all my veg soups I use either a vegetable stock (again, that isn’t too strong, taste it to make sure) or water. Many people think that the soup won’t be good but that’s not the case. That’s just me, and haven’t had any complaints that my soups are bland so far. Bottom line, use whatever you like or have on hand. This blended soup has spinach, cilantro, tahini and lemon. I made it the other night and it was easy and it is guest approved.

Spinach Soup III (with cilantro, tahini and lemon)

Ingredients: Serves: 8

Sauce:

¼ cup well stirred tahini

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 large garlic clove, finely grated or pounded to a smooth paste

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp red pepper flakes

Soup:

7 cups of water or stock

12 oz baby spinach

4 cups of roughly chopped cilantro around 2 bunches

¼ cup well stirred tahini

2 tsp salt

2 TBS or more of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method:

1. For the sauce; combine tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, cumin and red pepper flakes with 2 TBS water in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth, adding more water as needed to achieve a drizzle-able consistency, and set aside.

2. For the soup; add water or stock to heavy pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in spinach, cilantro, tahini and salt and return to a boil. Turn off heat and stir in lemon juice.

3. Blend soup, taste, and adjust seasoning with more salt and lemon, if desired.

4. Serve soup immediately, and drizzle with tahini sauce. Cover and refrigerate remaining soup and sauce for up to 1 week, or freeze soup for up to 1 month.

Source: Samin Nosrat, New York Times Magazine, March 17, 2019 issue

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes