Ingredients (Serves 4-5)

• 7 dried shiitake mushrooms
• Olive oil of good quality
• 3 baby leeks, white and light green portion, sliced and thoroughly rinsed
• 3 medium shallots, finely chopped
• Alternative to leeks and shallots: 1 large onions, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1/2 lb potatoes, well scrubbed and diced
• 1 parsnip, well scrubbed, trimmed, and thinly sliced
• 2 cups light chicken stock or vegetable broth, possibly homemade + water as needed
• 1 bay leaf
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 bunch of kale and rainbow chard (see below for quantity details)
• A generous squeeze of fresh Meyer lemon juice

Instructions

Before you start preparing the vegetables, place mushroom in a bowl and cover with warm water. Let them fully rehydrate.

Warm up some olive oil in a soup pot and gently cook baby leeks and shallots until soft, stirring often. Add garlic and stir. Drain mushrooms, remove stems (and save to make broth or stock), and slice caps. Add to the pot mushrooms and the water where they soaked, stir and cook for a few more minutes.

Add potatoes and parsnip to the pot and stir well. Add bay leaf, stock and enough water to cover the vegetables well. Bring to a boil and cook gently until potatoes and parsnip are tender and easily smashed with the back of a spoon.

While the soup cooks, wash the greens and separate the leaves from the stalks. (Set aside the chard stalks and make this dish or something else with them.) Make a stack of leaves, then roll it into a tight roll starting from the base of the leaves. Hold the roll with one hand and with the other cut thin slices across (as if it were a salame). Make another stack and repeat.

Season soup with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove bay leaf. Process soup with an immersion blender, leaving some texture. Add some hot water, if the soup is very dense. Bring soup back to a boil.

Add as much of the pile of cut greens as the soup can support and as you prefer. Simmer for a few minutes, until the greens are tender. Add the Meyer lemon juice and stir well. Adjust salt and pepper and serve this warming and satisfying soup.

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