I don’t think I’ve posted a recipe on my blog since the beginning of last semester.  Ever since I lost my camera I’ve been hesitant to post recipes because I feel like I’m cheating using just words and no pictures to back up the goodness.  But with this recipe it’s not the picture perfect looks that are the selling point; it’s the fragrance.  And since you can’t post aromas on the internet I can post this recipe guilt free.

This recipe was inspired by one of Anna Thomas’s, she of the Vegetarian Epicure books.  Sam’s mother gave me The New Vegetarian Epicure a while back, but I didn’t really get into it until I started looking for recipe ideas to share with a vegetarian friend who is coming into town this week.  That’s when I discovered Garlic and Greens Soup.  Thomas’s version is delicious as it is, but I decided to give the recipe a New England in winter twist.

New England in winter, for those of you who don’t live here, is cold.  It’s not like good ol’ NC, where I could find all sorts of cool weather veggies like broccoli and lettuce at the farmers’ market in February.  Here there’s not a lot growing, so if you’re into eating locally you mostly subsist off greens from hoop houses, tubers and alliums that have been stored in root cellars, and meats and dairy.  The best meat for winter is pork, because pigs are so hearty that they can deal with the cold with minimal housing and heating requirements.  I also tend to throw in some citrus in winter, it’s seasonal even if it’s not local and sometimes I just need something special to pep up a winter meal.

The other thing about winter, and this is true pretty much everywhere, is that it’s cold and flu season.  I hate getting sick, so I try my darndest to avoid both.  In November I did some research into common cold remedies and preventatives like vitamin C, echinacea, zinc, and garlic for an article I was writing for The Friedman Sprout.  I looked up studies from the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association and other peer reviewed journals and found out that most alternative cold remedies are bunk.  However, to my delight I found that garlic really does seem to help you fight off colds.

So, now that I’ve gotten the hype out of the way it’s time for the most perfect winter recipe of all time:

Garlicy Winter Soup

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 head of garlic, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 large bundle of kale, rinsed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 10 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1.5 lbs pork tenderloin, sliced into medallions 1/2 inch thick
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Kosher salt

1. Heat the olive oil to medium heat in a large soup pot.  When the oil is hot add the garlic, onion, cumin, and red pepper flakes.  Cook until the garlic and onion are soft and translucent.
2. Add the kale and allow it to wilt.
3. Add the broth, increase the heat to high, and cover.
4. When the broth begins to boil add the potatoes, cover, and allow the soup to simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Heat the vegetable oil over high heat and season the pork medallions with the salt and pepper.
6. Sear the medallions for 1 minute on each side until brown but not cooked through.  Dice the medallions and put them into the soup.  Then take a cup of the soup and use it to de-glaze the pan you seared the pork in, using  a wooden spoon to scrape all the flavorful browned bits off the bottom.  Pour this back into the soup.
7. Add the wine and vinegar and simmer for another 10 minutes, until the pork is cooked through but still tender.  Serve hot with crusty bread and a squeeze of lemon if desired.