Maggie's Vegan Cream of Chard Soup

Oh readers, I struggle. It's been over a month since last I posted! I'd like to be able to say that I've been doing amazing things that have kept me away, but the reality is that I've just been living life and cooking the same recipes we already know and love. Even with the CSA, I just  haven't been that creative with foods - with one major exception. This soup.

We got chard in our CSA shares for a couple of weeks and I remembered a soup we'd had years ago. I tried to recreate it after asking about ingredients, but then decided I didn't like the smell of one of the ingredients. Instead, I switched things up a bit and ended up with something delicious. Seriously, this soup is amazing. The richness of it makes it ideal for any season, but using fresh spring/summer chard is a great idea.

Maggie's Vegan Cream of Chard Soup

Ingredients

1 med. onion, chopped

1 c. dry white wine

5 c. veggie broth

1 tsp. sriracha sauce

1 tsp. tomato paste

2 bunches of chard - including some stem, chopped (this completely fills my large salad spinner)

6 T. canola oil, separated

5 T. flour

1, 15 oz. can coconut milk

Directions

1. In a large soup pot, saute onions in 1 T. oil until soft. 

2. Deglaze pan with wine. 

3. Add broth, sriracha, tomato paste, and chard. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. 

4. Toward the end of the 30 minutes, mix the remaining oil and flour in a pot to make a roux. Cook for 5-10 minutes over very low heat. The roux should barely change colors (if at all). 

5. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until there are no more large chunks of onion and chard.

6.  Add roux - SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY - to the soup. Stir then simmer for another 2-ish minutes. 

7. Add the can of coconut milk and stir well to make sure any lumps have dissolved. 

Helpful Hints

• Our CSA Swiss chard was here for two weeks, but then gone (perhaps we'll get more, who knows!). However, chard is often found year-round in well-stocked grocery stores. 
• Speaking of chard, green or red or some combination is totally fine. You're going to think that all the chard won't fit, but it will!
• This is a soy-free meal if your veggie broth is soy-free. 
• My favorite white wine to use in cooking is chardonnay. You could use a different dry white (like a pinot grigio), or even sherry. Alternatively, you can leave the wine out altogether and just add an extra cup of veggie broth. 
• Because of the roux and the coconut milk, this is a rich (but not very thick) soup. Thus, I highly recommend serving this with many other foods or as a small soup course at a fancy-pants dinner party. 

The post "Maggie's Vegan Cream of Chard Soup" originally appeared on Maggie's LesVegan Kitchen.