Last year I was asked to give a talk on vitamins and minerals. For lack of a more inspired approach, I decided to go in alphabetical order, plodding through all these micronutrients like an elementary school teacher. As part of the talk I shared ideas for good sources of the various vitamins and minerals. To my delight and surprise, I discovered that greens were a source of almost every vitamin I mentioned! Who knew? Greens even have tons of orange and yellow nutrients, like beta-carotene. The dark green pigment hides the lighter ones, but they’re still there.

I am always looking for something wonderful to do with collards (and other greens). It’s not just the taste, but also this feeling that I’m filling my body with nutritional powerhouses! I feel like I just cannot get enough of them, and it’s one of the things I always look forward to when opening my weekly box of vegetables.

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced into half moons
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 c. collard greens, ribbed, washed, sliced thinly & packed firmly
• 5 c. water or vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 c. cooked brown rice
• 20 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped small
• 2 small sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
• 1/4 c. tamari

Heat olive oil in large soup pot over low heat. Add onion, garlic and bay leaves. Saute 30 minutes until onions are browning and caramelized.

Add collards, raise heat to high and stir until wilted. Add vegetable stock (or water), rice, tomatoes and tamari, bring to a boil, reduce heat immediately to low, and simmer for 30 minutes or until collards are tender. Stir occasionally.

Remove bay leaves and rosemary, and serve. Serves 6.

Thank you, vegkitchen.com, for the original version of this terrific soup.