Thai Coconut, Broccoli, Chickweed and Greenbrier Shoot Soup with Ramp, Cilantro and Violet Garnish

I love a hearty soup with fresh homemade biscuits and jam for dinner. A soup that is full of wild harvested, free greens makes me extra happy. Here’s my really tasty recipe that is tried and true; especially if you like a little heat. It tastes just as good two days later.

Common Chickweed Stellaria media is an extra easy green to gather. I mentioned it when talking about our native, Star Chickweed. Common Chickweed was brought to the US from Europe. It is considered a delicacy in parts of Europe. It grows in lawns and along roads and in disturbed areas. Right now, where I live, it is in prime eating condition. I do consider it a great, free spinach substitute. It’s supposed to be full of vitamins A, D, B complex, C and a whole lot of minerals too. I snip off the fresh, new ends of lushness until I have enough for my recipe. That way I hardly have to wash it when I get home. OK, truth be told, I often don’t wash the produce I pick when it is picked clean.

I used to hate Greenbrier or Smilax. On a hot summer day, hiking in shorts, I’ve come home all scratched up from this tough, thorny, green vine with shiny leathery leaves. It grows in the Appalachian woods in tangles. It is often worse where deer browse the more easily eaten plants to extinction. Its thorns are brutal enough to stop a hungry deer almost no matter the season. Then, I discovered something, the spring shoots of new growth are really tasty, tender and easy to gather just by pinching them off at the junction with last years growth. I eat these straight or boil them for 3 minutes tops and season them with butter, salt and pepper. I also put them in recipes calling for kale, spinach, chard and the like. We have so many vines below my house I feel no remorse for picking them leafless and waiting for them to send out new shoots so I can do it again.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup store-bought Thai green curry paste (this is a key ingredient)
• 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
• 3 cups water
• 3 teaspoons of your favorite bullion
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• 1 pound broccoli florets, chopped
• 1 cup freshly picked Chickweed
• 1 cup freshly picked Greenbrier shoots
• 2 cups cilantro leaves
• 2 ramp leaves, finely chopped (you could use scallions or chives)
• violets for garnish

1. Place the curry paste in a large soup pot over medium heat and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the coconut milk, water, bullion, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
2. Add the broccoli, cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the broccoli is tender.
3. Add the Chickweed, Greenbrier and half the cilantro and cook for another minute.
4. Pour into a blender (in batches if the blender is small) and blend the soup until smooth.
5. Divide among serving bowls and top with the extra cilantro, ramps and whatever else you wish to decorate with. I used violets in the photo.

This soup recipe is perfect for a quick dinner with biscuits and jam. You can spice it up by adding more Thai Green Curry Paste, or take it down a notch by adding less.