Kale Tortellini Soup

The last day of 2013 has arrived. Can you believe we made it? Another year full of too many good feelings- though I didn’t have time to breathe in between my cubicle move from DC to Denver, moving to the beautiful city I call home in a rush was worth every extra minute. Jetting off to Asia because I knew the Vietnamese food would be worth it spurred my travel bug into high gear, but the theme of this year might just have been making new connections and reconnecting with the ones I didn’t want to leave behind. Whether you accomplished your ideas from last year or not, it is time again to focus on how we will better ourselves in the coming year- and for me, that means a bigger focus on connecting with others, pushing myself at work to find my professional passions, and working on embracing me for me. More so than goals, they are themes I hope resonate throughout 2014.

This vegetarian tortellini soup recipe is inspired from Shutterbean’s Spinach Tortellini Soup. When I just need to sit and cradle a warm bowl and reflect on how hard I’ve worked for this moment and to get to this place that I am proud of, I turn to soup. The cheesy tortellini help. This blog helps too- reminding me that somewhere there are ridiculously hungry foodies, just like me, who scan the internet for inspiration.

Kale Tortellini Soup (serves 8-10)

• 1 large sweet onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1 teaspoon each of dried oregano, basil, and rosemary
• 32 oz vegetable broth
• 3 cups water
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1/2 lb package of cheese tortellini
• 4 oz baby bella mushrooms
• 1/2 bunch kale

Begin by chopping your onion, garlic, and carrots. In a large pot, sautee the onion until soft and add in the chopped garlic. Cook for another minute before adding the carrots and your favorite Italian herbs (I used a blend of oregano, basil, and rosemary).

Cook for another few minutes and then add the vegetable broth, water, and diced tomatoes in their juice. Let the soup simmer for 20 minutes, and you can cook your tortellini in the meantime. Dry, fresh, or frozen pasta will work here. I like to cook them separately so that the pasta doesn’t dissolve in the broth if there are leftovers.

Add the kale in to the soup after giving it a rough chop, along with the sliced mushrooms. Let the soup simmer for another 5-10 minutes and serve, topping with parsley or parmesan.

Let’s get started on 2014: I brought the champagne.

Marisa