No Oil Tomato Kale Soup

After the holidays it's always nice to get back to a more healthy eating plan. One of my favorite things to do to get back on track is to cook up a big pot of soup, as I've mentioned before. I have always been skeptical about cooking without oil, but my sister used to make this amazing tomato chickpea soup without any oil, if I remember correctly, and it always turned out amazing. If you add enough spices and simmer the soup for a good amount of time, the flavors develop just fine despite the omission of oil. 


I'm trying to eat more kale, but after a failed kale salad experience last week, I decided to stick to what I know works best: adding it to soup. Kale is great for you but can be tough raw, so simmering it in a soup works well. 

Oil would have added another 100 calories.

This recipe was inspired by one I saw on Runner's World the other day that Mark Bittman came up with. You can find that recipe here. The soup turned out yummy and for only 120 calories per serving, a nutritional powerhouse of a soup if you ask me. 


Also, I wanted to thank all of you who have recently started visiting my website. Thanks to my friends and family for sharing the link; I broke another record yesterday for visitors. You guys really seem to like stuffing! 


No Oil Tomato Kale Soup
1 head kale, deveined and chopped* 
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 veggie chicken bouillon cube
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon thyme or fresh thyme (which I happened to have)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (less if you don't like spiciness)
salt and pepper to taste
avocado and nutritional yeast to garnish


Directions: Saute the onions in water until soft. Add the garlic and continue sauteeing until fragrant. Add the spices and salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil. Add the kale and garbanzo beans and simmer for at least a half hour. Garnish with avocado and nutritional yeast or cheese. 


*Deveining kale consists of ripping the leaves away from the tough stem. This step is crucial as the stem is really tough and shouldn't be eaten. 


Nutritional Info:
Servings per soup: 6
Calories per serving 119
Fat: 1.2g
Carbs: 23.5g
Protein: 5.6g
* Calorie count doesn't include garnishes.