From the Farm
⏱ Prep & Cook: 15 minutes prep · 35 minutes cook
🍽 Serves: 4
This recipe changes with every season at Knockadawk. What's below is a late summer version — a deeply nourishing vegetable soup using what the kitchen garden is producing in August and September in Co. Wexford. Adapt it to whatever is growing near you.
Why this recipe works
This soup is designed around the Ayurvedic principle of eating seasonally and locally — foods grown in your environment and harvested at their peak contain the highest levels of micronutrients and are most appropriate for your body at that time of year. Courgette and leek are gentle on the gut and easy to digest. Kale provides sulforaphane — a compound that supports Phase II liver detoxification and has anti-inflammatory properties. Bone broth as the base (use our Golden Turmeric Bone Broth recipe) adds gut-healing gelatin and collagen. Miso stirred in at the end provides a probiotic boost without being destroyed by heat. This is a genuinely restorative meal — simple, seasonal, and made from food that has been grown with intention.
2 tablespoons olive oil or ghee
1 large leek, cleaned and sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium courgettes, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
200g kale, stalks removed, leaves roughly chopped
1 litre good quality vegetable stock or bone broth (see our bone broth recipe)
400g tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon white miso paste (stirred in at the end — do not boil)
1 teaspoon dried thyme or a few sprigs of fresh thyme
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Good olive oil and sourdough to serve
1
Heat the olive oil or ghee in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the leek and cook gently for 5–7 minutes until softened and sweet. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
2
Add the carrots and courgette. Stir to coat in the oil and cook for 3–4 minutes.
3
Pour in the stock. Add the thyme, a good pinch of salt, and black pepper. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
4
Add the cannellini beans and kale. Cook for a further 5 minutes until the kale is wilted and the beans are warmed through.
5
Remove from the heat. Dissolve the miso paste in a small ladle of the hot soup liquid, then stir back into the pot. Do not return to the heat after adding miso — boiling destroys the beneficial bacteria.
6
Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve in deep bowls with a drizzle of good olive oil and sourdough on the side.
Notes & Variations
In spring, swap the courgette for asparagus and the kale for wild garlic leaves if you find them. In autumn, butternut squash and cavolo nero work beautifully. In winter, use root vegetables — parsnip, celeriac, swede — and add a spoonful of harissa for warmth. The bean can be swapped for lentils or left out entirely. This soup is deliberately flexible — use it as a framework, not a fixed recipe.
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