Green Goddess anything is certainly a click-baity recipe title. At least for me. And maybe you too since you’re reading this newsletter right now. I click because it makes me think that I TOO can achieve radiant, healthy, beautiful, goddess status simply by just eating said concoction. And honestly, not gonna lie, you might kinda feel that way after eating this soup.
It’s been a rough couple weeks. I’m feeling a little low and helpless. HBU?
So when I’m feeling low, I know it’s time to turn to my “feel good toolkit.” For me, that starts with dressing up in those fun sparkly pants, putting on those big gold earrings, applying that glittery eye shadow. Just cos’. My friend Jackie does a great Tiktok series on this - Dressin’ for Depression.
Next step is putting on music and dancing around my kitchen. I highly recommend making a playlist of all songs that make you sing. Mine is called “Belt,” and on it, you’ll see “I say a Little Prayer” by Aretha Franklin (talk about a Goddess!), “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac (classic!), and “Shallow” by Lady Gaga (don’t care if you call me basic!).
And my final step, and best feel-good medicine, of course, is food! This is definitely a time of year I’m more inclined to eat heavier, sweeter, and greasier foods, but I notice that my already tired body tends to feel even more tired and weighed down after these types of meals. So I try to pack up the veggies when I can. But hey, everything in moderation, even moderation! Full disclosure, I also ate half a tub of churro fudge ice cream last night, ; )
Being creative in the kitchen is what helps light me up. And obvi eating that food lights me the ‘eff up too.
Because when I feel good, I can go out there and show up better for my friends, family, and even strangers. I know this will not change the world, at least on a macro-level. Shit’s f-cked up. But I do believe that it’s in these micro-moments that we can create a ripple effect of joy. And, let me tell you, joy sure is contagious. When you pass joy on to someone else, they then take that joy and pass it along to another. And so on, and so on. And humans are capable of doing incredible things when they are in joy.
Green Goddess Soup enters the chat.
I know, soup again! If you tuned in a few weeks ago, you’ll know that this is VERY strange for me to be cooking and eating so much soup. But 2022 has got me outside my comfort zone, and I’m ridinggggg the wave.
It’s still cold here in NYC. That awkward time when you think it should be Spring because it’s March, but alas it’s still below 30 most days and I have to put my sad long underwear on under all of my pants just to get through the day. Did the groundhog come out or what?
So, when we combine a desire to blend all of your food together + a desire to eat something warm, we get SOUP!
But today we’re not going to be eating just ANY soup. We’re going to use THIS soup as a vehicle to true joy. We’re actually going to get ourselves out of this damn slump and feel like the Goddesses that we truly are. Yes, you! Goddess you! Who doesn’t want to be a Goddess?
A little history -
The idea of being a Goddess with your food in America (we know that other cultures have been Goddess’ing up their food for thousands of years before us) started in 1923 when the actor George Arliss stayed at San Francisco's Palace Hotel while he was performing in a play called The Green Goddess. So the hotel's chef created this salad dressing recipe in Arliss's honor. The classic recipe technically uses a lot of chopped fresh herbs, garlic, mayo, vinegar, and anchovies. It people freaking love it!
Today we’re not doing a classic green goddess - but instead we are taking the essence of her. She’s super green, that’s for sure. We’re gonna get alllllll of my green veggies friends in here for a healthy party in my belly. We’re talking kale, spinach, broccoli, and zucchini. I even top this goddess babe with dill and za’atar to keep the green mood board going.
This soup takes 30 mins and will pack all of your required veggies (at least for a few days). It’s also DF, GF, and Vegan! Wow!
So get yourself out of this slump, make this soup, dance around your kitchen, and bring out that Goddess. You’re doing great, sweetie.
Green Goddess Soup
DF, GF, Vegan
prep time: 30 mins
note: you can use fresh or frozen veggies!
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups broccoli florets
2 cups kale, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
2 chopped zucchini, sliced
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 can coconut milk
3 tablespoons salt, plus more to taste
Pepper to taste
Let’s do it!
Sauté onion and garlic in some olive oil on medium heat in a medium/large pot until garlic is fragrant and onion becomes translucent.
Add the rest of the veggies to the pot.
Add the vegetable broth.
Cover, stirring occasionally, and let the veggies steam down for about 15-20 mins until they are all soft and cooked through.
Add the veggie mix to blender or food processor.
Add coconut milk, salt, and pepper.
Blend on high until the soup is creamy.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Add more coconut milk if it needs to be creamier.
Pour in a bowl and top with salt, pepper, za’atar spice, fresh dill, and sour cream (if you’re feeling sassy!
Happy cooking,
Love ya mucho.
Tessa
P.S. did you know that for each Sobremesa, I also make a lil’ cooking video? Follow me on Instagram and TikTok