Bear garlic and other green soups

We have selected three recipes for three green soups for you. Although they all look similar in the final, each is specific in its taste and characteristics.

The dish is first eyed. That's why we recommend serving the creamy soups in patterned china, which allows them to stand out. Bonna's Alhambra porcelain or HOLST's Re-Active Tierra porcelain are great choices.

Nettle soup

The healing properties of nettles can also be used in cooking. Nettle has a rich, distinctive taste. Nettle leaves contain vitamins A, B, C, E, K, a complex of macro- and microelements, flavonoids and organic acids. This unique medicinal plant has a strengthening effect on the body, restores strength and has a detoxifying effect.

Only young shoots are suitable for cooking and consumption. Older shoots have a bitter taste after flowering.

Recipe:

For 4 servings we will need:
1 onion | 6 medium potatoes | 2 large handfuls of young nettles | 2 cloves of garlic | oil | 1.5 liters of vegetable broth | salt | black ground pepper | cumin

1. Cut the onion and potatoes into small pieces. Sauté in a little oil for about 5 minutes with the whole garlic cloves.
2. Pour in the stock, add salt, pepper and cumin. Cook until the potatoes are soft.
3. When the potatoes are soft, set the soup aside and add the nettles. Let it simmer under a lid for about 5 minutes.
4. Blend until smooth. Before serving, you can add croutons, sunflower seeds or a hard-boiled egg.

Bear soup

Bear garlic is a miracle of nature. Harvest it right from the spring before flowering. It is full of nutrients, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Eating it can help boost immunity. In addition to being full of vitamins, helping to eliminate toxins from the body, bear garlic soup is also low in calories.

When harvesting bear garlic, you need to be careful about the location of harvesting so that you don't harvest bear garlic in a protected area. You also need to watch out for possible confusion with lily of the valley leaves.

Recipe:

For 4 servings you will need.
4 handfuls of bear garlic | 1 pcs shallots | 6 medium potatoes | 180 ml 33% cream | salt | black pepper | butter | 1 liter vegetable broth

1. Finely chop the shallots and fry in butter.
2. Add the diced potatoes and pour in the broth. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the potatoes are soft.
3. Towards the end of cooking, add the bear garlic leaves and boil for a few minutes.
4. Then blend the soup.
5. Stir in the whipping cream.
6. You can add croutons, sunflower seeds or pine nuts before serving.

Mangold in soup

Mangold originated in the Mediterranean and was brought to our country around the 18th century. In the kitchen, it has similar uses to spinach. However, it has a nuttier taste. It is well suited to a reduction diet as it contains only a minimum of calories.

Young chard, which does not yet have such thick stems, is best for cooking. Remove the thicker stems from the chard before cooking. Mangold contains high amounts of oxalic acid, fibre, flavonoids rutin and quercetin, vitamins A, B, C, and minerals such as iron, calcium, potassium, sodium, copper and zinc, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids and beta-carotene. Chard is known to relieve digestive problems, eliminate nervousness and fatigue, cure anaemia, strengthen bones and teeth, protect the heart, maintain healthy hair, skin and nails, improve eye health, etc.

The easiest and quickest way to get acquainted with chard is to make a soup out of it.

Recipe:

For 4 servings we will need:
3 tbsp butter | 1 small leek | 6 large chard leaves | 180 ml of 33% cream | salt | black pepper | 1 liter of vegetable broth

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the chopped leeks, lightly salt them and sauté for about 5 minutes.
2. Tear the chard leaves from the thick stems and add to the pot with the leeks.
3. Pour in the stock, season with salt and black pepper. Cover and simmer over a low heat for about 15 minutes.
4. Blend the soup and add the cream.
5. Boil together for about 3 minutes more.
6. You can add croutons, sunflower or pumpkin seeds before serving.

We will be happy if you share your recipes with us, or your experience with preparing soups according to our recipes. We wish you a good taste and that you get a lot of strength from the spring.