Lets Cook! Kale, Sausage and White Bean Soup

This is a good recipe. Super easy, quick and delicious. I say 'recipe' loosely as you can pretty much do whatever you want with this soup. Throw in a little of this or a lot of that if you want. Make it thicker by using less stock or more soupy by blending half and adding more stock. You can make it veggie by eliminating the sausage and using veggie stock. You still have the white beans in there for protein and sometimes I make it that way just for a change. Either way, its delicious.



I used leeks because I had them. Slice them in half length wise then chop crosswise and throw in a big bowl of water. That way, if there is any sand in them (which there usually is, don't skip this!) it falls to the bottom of the bowl. Swish them around every now and then.

This time, I added sweet potatoes. Sometimes I use regular potatoes or no potatoes at all.


TIP! When you go to drain the leeks, use a slotted spoon instead of just pouring them all into a strainer. You don't want all that grit you just washed out to get dumped back on them!

I add a little olive oil to the pot to help my sausage brown up. Its a local sausage I've used a lot so I know it doesn't give off too much fat.


Local sausage I use. I like the hot kind, but any kind will do.


Brown up your sausage in the olive oil and when most of the pink is gone, go ahead and toss in your leeks. Drain the leeks well first and maybe even roll them around in a dish towel to dry them.

I use this prepackaged kale. Its already chopped and ready to go. I used about half of this big bag.


Let your Kale wilt down a little bit. Stir the sausage and leeks around with the kale (making sure you're not leaving your sausage on the bottom of the pot to burn!)


Add your chicken stock. Scrape any bits of sausage that may have gotten stuck to the pan at this point.


Sweet potatoes, AWAY!


I used two cans of great northern beans, rinsed.


Grate in your garlic. If you ever chop garlic, you're a chump. Use a microplane like the cool kids do.


I forgot to take a picture of it, but I also added a big can of crushed tomatoes with about half the juice drained. I love smoked paprika so I add a generous amount of that. Also, add in salt and pepper of course and any other herbs you like. I did grate a little nutmeg in there too because I love nutmeg with dark greens.


Now we're looking like soup! All you should be waiting for at this point is for your kale to get tender and your sweet potatoes to be done. keep checking them and when they're soft enough for you, turn off the heat! You're done!

Good...


Better! Grate some parmesean on top and maybe a splash of lemon juice. DELICIOUS!