Soup-er Greens Soup [VEGAN]*

Soups, if you ask me, are a great way to pack in your greens and ramp up the goodness. They’re also perfect for warming you up on a chilly winters day. So not only do they get you closer to your five-a-day, but they’re there to give your tummy a hug too!

Now I will totally hold my hands up and say that this isn’t the prettiest soup in the word, but it's well and truly packed full of goodness and will work wonders for clearing out the post holiday cobwebs. There's oodles of green leafy veg in this soup, including broccoli, kale, cabbage a spinach - all of which are packed with fibre, vitamins A & C and folate.

To add an extra boost of goodness, I've also added some of Indigo Herbs Super Powders*. Their Super Mushroom Nutri-Complex can help to boost concentration and support the immune system which Supergreens Powder which contains wheatgrass, barley grass, moringa, spirulina and chorella is packed with vitamins A, C & E along with a range of B vitamins. Alongside the Super Powders there's also a touch of Organic Matcha Green Tea Powder for an extra boost of vitamins with a hint of caffeine - so if all of that goodness doesn't give you some get up and go then I don't know what will!

I put this recipe together using my Instant Pot, which has honestly revolutionised my kitchen and cuts the cooking time of the soup down to just 5 minutes (yes - you can cook lentils in 5 minutes!). You can still follow the steps below to cook on the hob, but I would advise using pre-cooked lentils, otherwise you're in for some seriously soggy veg, along with increasing the cooking time slightly to ensure that all your veggies are cooked through.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

♥ 1 large onion - diced

♥ 4-5 garlic cloves - finely chopped

♥ 1 tsp oil

♥ 1 head of broccoli - chunked

♥ 200g cavalo nero/black kale - sliced

♥ 1/2 head savoy cabbage - sliced

♥ 1 large handful spinach

♥ ½ cup green lentils - rinsed

♥ 1 litre vegetable stock

♥ 2 tbsp Indigo Herbs Supergreens Powder*

♥ 1 tbsp Indigo Herbs Super Mushroom Nutri-Complex* powder

♥ 2 tsp Indigo Herbs Organic Matcha Gree Tea Powder*

♥ 1 tsp fresh/dried thyme

♥ 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

♥ Oat/Soy cream (optional)

♥ Salt & pepper to season

♥ Nutritional yeast/vegan bacon crumbles/rye bread to serve

WHAT TO DO:

♥ Add the oil to your pot and using the saute setting gently fry the onion and garlic for 5 minutes.

♥ Add the chopped vegetables to the pot and stir through.

♥ Add the Super Powders, Matcha, thyme and chilli flakes to the stock and stir well to combine.

♥ Add the stock to the pot, pop the lid on and cook on the manual or soup settings for 5 minutes.

♥ Once finished, quick release the steam, add the plant cream (if using) and blend (N.B: my blender encountered an unfortunate smoothie incident, therefore I used a stick blender which didn't get the soup quite smooth, but I find the chunkier texture is more satiating).

♥ Season to taste and serve with a drizzle of plant cream, nutritional yeast,vegan bacon crumbles and toasted rye bread - delicious!

What's your favourite vitamin packed soup recipe? I'd love for you to share your thoughts either in the comments below, or drop me a tweet @_hellojordan

* these products were very kindly sent to me for recipe creation. As always, all thoughts are my own.