This frigid weather is nothing a steaming pot of soup can’t fix.

On winter Sundays when I was growing up, my mom could always be found in the kitchen making a giant pot of soup. This soup would last us through the week, and then she would move on to making the next soup. Over the years, this soup obsession resulted in about a million varieties of vegetable soup in my household.

I love the nostalgia of classic vegetable soup, but in this recipe, I wanted something a little more refreshing that would make the most of citrus season. After a bit of searching, I decided that an adaptation of Michelle Braxton‘s Lemon and Spinach Orzo Soup on Food52 was just what I needed. It’s warming, flavorful, simple and impossibly easy to make.

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 medium yellow onions
• 4 stalks of celery
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 pinch red chili flakes (optional)
• 10-12 cups vegetable stock or broth
• 1 1/4 cups orzo pasta
• 1 cup soy milk or cows’ milk
  • Note: if using sweetened milk, only add a splash of milk and substitute the remaining liquid with more broth or water
• 2 small lemons, plus 1 lemon for garnish
• 6 loosely packed cups chopped kale
• Salt and pepper to taste

Steps

1. Prep your produce by washing the sweet potatoes, onions, celery, lemons and kale. Zest two of the lemons and chop the kale into 2-inch pieces and set aside for later. Then, peel the sweet potatoes and remove the skin of the onions. Chop sweet potatoes into 1-inch pieces, dice the onion, finely slice the celery and mince the garlic.
2. Sauté sweet potatoes, onions, celery and garlic in olive oil in a large pot over medium heat until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Then, add the stock and chili flakes and bring to a boil over medium-high. Let that boil until the sweet potatoes are soft, about 35-40 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Toward the end of the soup’s cooking time, boil the orzo pasta in the water for 6 minutes (3 minutes short of the package instructions). After six minutes, drain the orzo and transfer it to the pot of soup. Immediately add in the kale, milk and zest and juice of 2 lemons. Stir this until your kale has wilted. Garnish with fresh herbs, a sliced lemon, salt and pepper.

Sustainability tips

• Vegetables and garlic: Buying local and organic veggies and garlic will cut down on greenhouse gases from travel and keep pesticides out of the environment.
• Lemons: Since lemons aren’t grown locally, organic lemons are the most sustainable option in this recipe. Buying organic will ensure that harmful pesticides weren’t used on your lemons.

Video by Peter Hunt Szpytek