In winter I make huge batches of soup. We eat it for dinner, then my children take leftovers to school in a thermos for lunch, for the next few days.

My soups are a whole meal in a bowl. Blending the green leafy vegies in this recipe not only allows me to get much larger quantities of greens in, but also improves the texture of the soup and enhances our absorption of the vast range of nutrients that greens are abundant in.

The natural oils in the nuts or seeds also enhance phytochemical absorption from the vegetables.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup channa dhal (yellow split peas)
1/2 cup dry pinto or other beans
2 beetroots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 carrots
1 brown onion
2 cloves garlic
2 carrots
Stalks of 4 heads of organic broccoli
2 zucchinis
1 cup mushrooms
Kernels of 1 cob of corn
1 bunch of kale, central ribs removed (use silverbeet, bok choy or other greens if you can’t get kale)
50 g raw cashews or sunflower seeds

Method:

Put lentils and beans into a large soup pot, cover well with water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat off after a minute and let stand for at least an hour, preferably several.

Drain and rinse in a colander, return to the pot, add about a cup of water and bring to the boil while making the broth for the soup. To do this, pulverise beetroots and 2 carrots in Thermomix, food processor or powerful blender, adding as much water as you can fit into the blender bowl. Pour into the pot.

Add chopped onions and minced garlic, remaining 2 carrots, chopped, and all other vegetables, diced, sliced or chopped, except kale, in order listed. Cover and simmer on lowest possible heat for about an hour, then add finely shredded greens, leaving them on top of the soup. Simmer for 5-10 minutes or until greens are tender (kale will need more cooking time than other greens).

Remove greens with tongs and transfer to a blender or food processor, adding about 2 cups of broth from the soup, and the sunflower seeds or cashews. Blend to a cream then pour back into the soup. Reheat gently and serve.