green soup in shotglasses - kale and sweet pea soup with mint

I have always wanted to serve a soup in shotglasses like the fancy restaurants do. This week, not only did my never-to-be-missed swap shop at the dump have four pristine shot glasses, but I had just picked up some Red Russian kale at the farmer's market. So instead of the traditional English pea soup with mint ( English peas are the kind you pop out of non-edible pods and can buy frozen year round) - I decided to cut the sweetness of a straight pea soup with kale. It worked beautifully!

The Red Russian kale has softer leaves than the frilly, somewhat tough kale you buy toward the end of the summer and into fall. You can blanch or simmer it in a matter of minutes, and serve with just olive oil and salt and pepper. It's a more interesting green side dish than spinach, and goes with everything. You can also use it in the traditional kale soup with linguica. But my favorite way to serve many greens is in a pureed, intensely green, loaded-with-vitamins soup - and in these shot glasses with a little mint and chive , it looked just beautiful.

You will need:

1 cup vegetable or chicken stock

2 cups water

1 T. scallion greens, sliced

1 T. jasmine rice

2 cups sliced Red Russian kale

1 cup English peas ( frozen is fine)

1 t. unsalted butter or olive oil

dash hot sauce (optional)

Bring stock and water to a simmer. Add scallion greens and jasmine rice. Simmer for 15 minutes, then add the kale. Cook another ten minutes, add the peas, simmer another five minutes. Using a regular blender or immersion blender, puree the soup with:

1T. sliced mint

1 T. scallions

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Serve in shot glasses or bowls with a garnish of chives and mint.

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