Ashe Reshteh

All the ingredients.  And because groceries
are so affordable here this entire lot cost about
15 Euro. 

A friend from High School had posted a yummy picture on Facebook about a yummy vegan Persian soup she had just made.  I asked her for the recipe and she directed me to Ashe Reshteh soup.  I found a few recipes that I could mix together to make it.  I knew I was going to volunteer on Wednesday with the refugee women teaching English and the area of Berlin that I go to volunteer there are a lot of Turkish, Syrian, Iranian/Iraqi residents.  So I knew that I could hit up any produce stand and get all the yummy greens I would need to make this soup.  Just reading the recipe I knew it was going to be a lot of greens but I didn't realize just how much until I started making it.  SOOO much green in this soup. It is funny because I have always used parsley and cilantro as extras in a meal or recipe.  Just the condiments.  But in this soup it IS the soup.  2 POUNDS of

spinach.  1 POUND each of parsley and cilantro.  Some mint as well.  It filled my entire enormous soup pot before it cooked down.  It was super good and very different than anything I had ever made or eaten.  I topped it with Greek yogurt and caramelized onions, sauteed garlic and a splash of red wine vinegar (which my high school friend, Ladan, said was the secret to the soup and it really did add a lot of flavor!)  Yummmm.