I had planned to make a non-raw dinner tonight (hummus and avocado wraps), but instead I decided to experiment with a type of a raw meal I had not yet tried to make – a raw soup.
Similarly to the green smoothies I’ve mentioned before, a raw soup is a blended combination of greens and other plant based ingredients. Unlike the smoothies, which contain sweet fruit, a soup will contain other vegetables and possibly non-sweet fruit (cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.) and be somewhat thicker than a smoothie.
This extra thickness is usually achieved by using less water (or whatever liquid is used as a base), and often by adding avocado, which also makes the soup more creamy and adds calories, making it more satisfying.
Like all other raw meals, raw soups are not heated to temperatures above about 115F, but it’s ok to warm the soup up to below that limit. This can be done on the stove, or by running a high powered blender, like a Vitamix, for a minute or so longer than necessary.
Instead of using a recipe, I decided to improvise. I made my soup with the following ingredients:
- 4 collard leaves
- 1 stalk of celery
- 1 avocado
- 1 lemon (juice only)
- a bit of parsley
- 20 baby carrots, minced
- 1.5 cups of water
I blended all ingredients in the Vitamix, then mixed the carrots in before serving. I wanted to retain some crunchiness to my soup.
Raw soup experiment
Unfortunately, the soup did not turn out very well. It was much too sour for my taste, and the flavor of the greens was overpowering even for someone who is somewhat used to it, like myself. As I began eating, I thought I would give it 3 out of 5 stars, but as I had my last spoonful, the rating has deteriorated to barely one and a half stars. The soup was certainly edible, but I doubt I could have had any more.
This should teach me to use recipes instead of improvising. At least for now 
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Have you had much in the way of collards before? I’ve always found them far too bitter for my taste. Might work better with Kale or Chard.
I do like collard greens, but I’ve never had them in those amounts before
And you might be right – I’ve found a very similar recipe that used chard as the main leafy green.