(raw vegan, gluten-free)
So this is one of my most favorite, simple pleasures I took away from the Gourmet Institute a couple weekends ago that I haven’t quit talking about. Besides the fact that it’s healthy and raw, I think what impresses me most is that when world-renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten demonstrated how to make it, he said that it was one of his personal favorites he makes for himself often. And it shows. The guy looks good.
It’s a very versatile soup, but it does require 4 fundamental elements: at least 2 base aromatic, substantially flavored vegetables (such as fennel, leeks, shallot); a good, warm homemade vegetable stock (that can be traditional, Asian, or any other style of your liking); the use of fresh herbs (both in the stock and in the “meat” of the soup); and the method of finely chopping the vegetables into small dice or brunoise.
Let’s begin with the stock.
The stock, in itself, is not technically “raw”. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter because it’s not adding or taking away any nutritive value or enzymes, if this is among your top concerns. It is strictly used as an activator and complimentary pool of flavor for all the little veggies to swim. Some hard-core raw foodies might beg to differ with me, but to me this absolutely a raw soup.
If you alternatively just use water, you’ll most certainly not have the same flavorful results. Additionally, vegetable stock is a great way to utilize inedible parts of veggies that you might otherwise throw away, like fennel and leek tops. And the rest of the vegetables and herbs used in the stock should be of the most inexpensive variety, like carrots, celery, onions and garlic. It also puts those extra herbs from the garden to good use! Here, I prepared just a basic vegetable stock with the ingredients I had on hand.
7-8 quarts filtered or spring water
green tops of 3 leeks, cut right where white part turns green, chopped into chunks
green tops of 4 fennel, with fronds, chopped into chunks
2 medium carrots, cut into chunks
4 stalks of celery, with leaves cut into chunks
1 medium shallot, coarsely chopped
4 smashed fat garlic cloves
handful fresh parsley
6-8 whole stems of thyme
2 tsp whole black peppercorns
3 tbs sea salt (may vary)
Bring the water to a boil, add all ingredients, and cook at a low simmer for at least 3-4 hours, covered. Check for desired level of saltiness. Strain the stock through a seive and discard vegetables. It can be stored and frozen for up to 6 months in the freezer, 1 week in the refrigerator in an air-tight container. Reserve 2 to 3 cups in a small saucepan for the soup.
Prepare the soup ingredients:
As I mentioned, it is key to chop your vegetables into a small dice or brunoise, meaning 1/4″ to 1/8″ cubes. Of course they don’t have to be perfect, but use the sizing as a guide. This is key from a visual, textural, and taste perspective. The small, colorful pieces are appealing to the eye, they’re easy to fit on a spoon and chew up (and because they’re raw you don’t want too much bulky crunch), and small pieces make the flavors of each vegetable work together just right. Plus, when the warm broth hits them, the flavors are released nicely. You can make a lot of these vegetables in advance and store them in an air-tight container in the fridge so that you can have this soup right on hand anytime.
(Serves 2 generous bowls)
1 small fennel bulb
1 small leek, white and very light green parts only
2 red radishes
1 small carrot
1/8 of a small yellow bell pepper
1/2 medium zucchini
1 cup snow peas (sliced very thin on diagonal)
1/4 cup chopped dill plus extra for garnish
lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil {or}
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest and extra virgin olive oil
sprinkle of paprika for garnish
sea salt
Put all of the diced fennel, leek, radishes, bell pepper, zucchini, snow peas, and dill together in a bowl and mix evenly. Divide by two and place into soup bowls.
Heat the stock to the temperature of which you’d drink hot tea. If you’re strict with raw, of course this wouldn’t be over 118 degrees. However, if it’s warmer but not steaming hot, it’s not going to “cook” the vegetables.
Ladle about 1 1/2 cups of stock (or more if needed) over the vegetables. Drizzle over a little bit of lemon oil {or} zest (if using zest, additionally add a light drizzle of olive oil). Finish with a sprinkling of sea salt, paprika, and a pinch more dill. Serve immediately.
I served this soup as a first course for dinner one night, and had it again for my lunch the next day along with an heirloom tomato and baby spinach salad. I had these beautiful grape, cherry, and teardrop heirloom tomatoes. The purple basil from my garden has been going bonkers, so I did a chiffonade and tossed it with the tomatoes with some sea salt, and served it over a bed of baby spinach. I’m in love with this bottle of lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil I got from Positano, Italy over the summer so this was yet another opportunity to drizzle it all over something.
<3, JMK
