Portuguese Soup

A family staple growing up, this soup is easy, and delicious. It is my quintessential comfort food. I make it with a couple of variations each time.

INGREDIENTS
4 cups boiling potatoes, cubed
3 carrots, peeled and cubed
1 medium onion, quartered
3 to 5 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup or bunch of frozen or freshly chopped collard greens

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot, add potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic. Fill the pot with water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes and carrots fall apart when pierced with a fork. Remove pot from heat (or turn off gas). With a hand blender, puree until smooth (or puree in a blender and return mixture to pot). Return to boil on medium heat. Stir in olive oil. Add collard greens and cook for about 7 minutes. Serve. Makes about 8 to 10 servings.

VARIATIONS
Sometimes instead of 4 cups boiling potatoes, I use 3 cups of potatoes and 1 cup of sweet potatoes or yams. Note that the sweet potato takes just a little longer to cook. I also substitute kale, spinach or cilantro for the collard greens. Enjoy.