It has been months since I blogged. I just took a break for awhile, but I really missed it! Lots has gone on since my last post. I won’t bore you with it. I’ll just say I’ve been busy!
We really haven’t had a winter this year in our area! As a result, I really haven’t made all the soups and stews that I usually make this time of year. We’ve also been low-carbing, so that puts a damper on things. I’ve been without bread, pasta, rice, or any other carbs or sugar – other than what we get from vegetables – for about a month and I’ve lost 19 pounds! That feels really good, but sometimes, I miss carbs so badly, I could eat a cardboard box!
I haven’t done that yet.
Thought about it. But haven’t done it.
Today we actually have cooler temperatures. And by cool, I mean we haven’t gotten out of the 50’s. I’ve been chilly all day and Michael hasn’t felt well in a couple of days, so soup seemed like a great idea. Most of my usual soups have pasta or rice, so they were out. I kinda came up with this one based on what we had in the refrigerator and pantry.
Sausage and Kale Soup
- 1/2 a stick of butter
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 pound, 8.92-oz. bag of frozen sausage crumbles
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon of garlic paste (or finely-minced garlic)
- 1 tablespoon of basil paste (or finely-minced basil)
- 3 14.5-oz. cans of fire roasted, diced tomatoes
- 48 ounces of chicken stock
- 2-3 teaspoons of salt
- 1 teapoon of black pepper
- 6 cups of kale, big stems removed, leaves cut into smaller pieces
- 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
In a large, stock pot, over high heat, melt the butter and add the olive oil. Toss in the sausage crumbles (frozen is fine) and diced onion, and stir to coat with butter/oil. Continue to stir until onions are soft and transculent. Add the garlic and basil and stir to combine. Continue to stir and cook until you smell the garlic. Pour in all three cans of tomatoes. Add the chicken stock and salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add the kale and stir. Bring to a happy boil and reduce heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally to incorporate the kale as it wilts. Remove from heat and stir in cream.
Well Duh #1: I found these crumbles in the freezer section at Walmart with the breakfast foods. If you can’t find them, just brown 2 1-pound tubes of sausage. You can even use turkey sausage, if you’d like. If you do this, be sure to drain the sausage before starting with the recipe.
Well Duh #2: I find the tubes of garlic and basil paste (and ginger and cilantro and red chili paste) in the produce section of my grocery store. They are so handy to keep in the refrigerator!
Well Duh #3: It seems like a lot of kale, but it will cook down a lot – not as much as spinach will though. It will still keep some of it’s chew.
Well Duh #4: You can absolutely leave out the cream and the soup will stil be delicious! I just needed some creamy goodness! Here’s what it looks like without the cream:
This was loved by the tribe. We were all chilly. I sat on the couch holding my bowl in my hands so it would warm them while I ate. It worked! I even have enough for lunch tomorrow! Start to finish, this took less than 30 minutes to make. At the end of a Monday, that sounds awesome to me!
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