Cozy Irish Colcannon Soup (Potato, Leek, Cabbage, and Kale) for Souper Sundays

Since St. Patrick's Day is looming on this week's horizon, it seemed like the perfect time to try a recipe for colcannon soup that I pinned a while back. I am a huge fan of Irish colcannon, that blend of mashed potatoes with cabbage and/or kale and loved the idea of making it into a soup. 

The original recipe comes from Elise at Simply Recipes and contained an awful lot of butter and some heavy cream (as colcannon usually does). I wanted a more heart-healthy and dairy-free version, so I used a lesser amount (half) of vegan butter substitute and replaced the cream with a coconut-based creamer. I also puréed some of my soup to add to the creamy factor and I prefer my kale to have some texture to it, so I didn't put it in the soup until close to the end. You can see the original recipe here. 

Irish Colcannon Soup (Potato, Leek, Cabbage & Kale)
Adapted from Simply Recipes
(Makes 6 Servings)
 
3 Tbsp vegan butter replacement (or coconut oil--although it won't be as rich)
2 cups leeks, sliced
2 cups green cabbage, sliced and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 cups kale (Tuscan/lacinato kale preferred), de-stemmed, sliced and chopped into bite-sized pieces
4 cups peeled and diced Russet potatoes, diced
6 cups light vegetable or non-chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste--depending on broth used
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper, or to taste
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut creamer, other nondairy creamer or coconut milk
4 green onions, thinly sliced

Heat oil or butter replacement in a large heavy soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks and cabbage and toss, so they are coated with the butter/oil. Lower heat to low, cover and cook about 10 minutes until leeks and cabbage are softened. 

Add the potatoes, broth, bay leaves, and 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and keeping the soup at a simmer, cook until potatoes are soft and close to falling apart, about 15 minutes. (Optional Step: Before I put the kale in, I took out about 2 cups of the soup and puréed it in the blender, then added it back in with my kale.)  Add kale and cook another 5-10 minutes until kale has wilted to your liking. 

Remove soup from heat, stir in coconut creamer, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper, and green onion. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt as needed.

Notes/Results: Yum! This is a wonderful and satisfying bowl of soup. Rich and creamy and great flavor. If you aren't a fan of plan kale or cabbage, this soup is a good way to sneak them into your day as the potatoes and the sweetness of the leeks temper the slight bitterness they can have. The changes I made to keep it dairy free worked without sacrificing the flavor and puréeing some of the soup before adding the kale really adds to the creaminess, so I highly recommend it. With a busy week ahead, I am happy to have this soup to reheat for lunches and dinners. I would make this again. 

Haven't tried colcannon before and want to start there? 
Try Diana Henry's Cabbage (+ Kale) and Leek Colcannon (I left the butter in this one.) 

I did a slow and quiet reboot of Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, back after a long hiatus with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads or sandwiches and a recap of some of the entries the following week. (If you are not familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.)

 
Last week Tina from Squirrel Head Manor shared her hearty Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup saying, "Brilliant soup, this is lovely in color and fabulously delicious. Lots of flavor, super easy. The slow cooker did all the work except the chopping. I am happy about all of it." Split pea soup always makes me happy too! ;-)

 If you have a soup, salad or sandwich to share, I'd love it if you would join in this week's linkup:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month but we'll take older posts too if you go back, mention Souper Sundays, and add a link to your post--see below) on the picture link for the current week and leave a comment below.

On your entry post (on your blog):

• please mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post.
• you are welcome to add the wonderful Souper Sundays logo (created by Ivy at Kopiaste) to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Sunday!