Caldo Verde

Caldo Verde! The Portuguese king of soups!
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 whole dried red chillies
4 large potatoes, diced or sliced
6 cups cold water with vegetarian stock powder to taste
1 large bunch kale, chopped finely
fresh ground black pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Toss in the onion, garlic and dried red chillies and stir for 3 minutes. Add the potatoes and stir for another 3 minutes.Pour in the water and turn up the heat to bring to a boil.Once boiling, reduce the heat again to medium and let the soup boil gently for 20 minutes.Remove the soup from the heat and take out the red chillies temporarily. If a creamier soup is desired, use a hand blender to roughly purée the vegetables, leaving just a few of the potato chunks unblended for taste and texture.