The Botanical Kitchen

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Kale, Butterbean and Coconut Soup

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There is a beast on my allotment.  Something that’s nibbling at the few plants we have in the ground.  This is what it’s done to our wonderful kale which is all but gone.

Kale at the allotment

The last scraps of kale at the allotment

With sowing season now fully underway, I decided to pull out the final scraps and rework the bed for something new.  Rainbow chard I think. It always looks so pretty on the neighbour’s allotment I’ll plant it as a decorative border with a wigwam of peas in the centre.  Perhaps the bright colours will put the Allotment Beast off.  Blind it with colour.  Here’s hoping. So what of the last scraps of kale? With the chill in the air it has to be a warming soup.  Something fast as there is much to do for the week ahead but something that savours the curly kale – nibble holes and all.

Kale, Butterbean and Coconut Soup
Print Recipe

Kale, Butterbean and Coconut Soup

Total Time30 mins
Servings: 4

Notes

kale and butterbean soup

A perfect soup for the odds and ends at the allotment before planting starts a new

You'll need
  • 2 tbsp vegetable/sunflower oil
  • 1 tsp small black mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 400ml tin coconut milk
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp red chilli flakes (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp coriander and cumin powder
  • 2 400g tins butterbeans, drained
  • chopped kale - about 4 large handfuls or as much as you want to use up!
To make it
  1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan for 2-3 minutes and then add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds.  When they start to fizzle and pop add the coconut milk. Be careful as the oil may spit at you.
  2. Add half a tin of water and then the salt and spices, stir and bring to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes to cook the spices through.
  3. Add the butterbeans and kale, cover and leave for a further few minutes til the kale has wilted.
  4. Serve hot next to the fire in front of a good Sunday movie or omnibus edition of Eastenders.

Do you have any beasts in your allotment or garden? What’s your go to soup recipe for scraps of veg? 

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  2. We’ve grown rainbow chard for a few years now, both in our back garden and at the allotment. it is ridiculously hardy and so versatile and tasty, not to mention it looks very pretty too 🙂 Our Kale is starting to bolt so before resewing I shall try this soup out with the remnants of the old plants.

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  6. Awww your poor veggies. I hope you find out who it is that has been doing the nibbling. It’s inevitable I guess 🙁 good luck with the chard! I hope the allotment beat hates it 😛

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  7. I’m feeling warmer just looking at the photo of your soup – sounds really good, and a great way to use up the last kale leaves. Could your allotment beast be a pigeon? They’re working their way through my last few kale plants here… they have no concept of sharing food!

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  9. Oh for an allotment! Although I think that you’re a Super-woman finding time to tend it – I find my tiny courtyard of pots and a few plants enough of a challenge.
    Hope the pest has satiated his kale appetite
    Love the idea of butter beans with coconut milk and spices – I’ve always used them in a more European way. Can’t wait to try the soup.

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  11. As a fellow kale grower I do make quite a lot of kale soup but have never taken it in this direction. I will be remedying this deficit in my kale repertoire very soon. It really looks lovely, Urvashi! PS My kale plants get a bit nibbled too but as you know chard fares much better. I love both so much! Pak choi was a nightmare – never growing that again!

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  14. We’re at the end of our growing season – due to the heat. Nice simple tasty recipe. Looking forward to seeing your new season allotment pics.

    Reply

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