Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Kale, how I love thee!

6 months ago I'd never heard of Kale. If I had heard it I blocked it from my thoughts as one of those weird foods hippies eat. Not for me, nope no way. 


I was so very wrong.

I've now eaten kale three days in a row. Let me introduce you to the recipe that is rocking my world. 

Have I mentioned how much I love this book? Seriously like the best cookbook I've ever purchased because the recipes are quick and delicious, plus many are very adaptable and only use a few ingredients. Hooray!

This is not exactly the recipe, but has been adapted from Real Simple Best Recipes: Easy, Delicious Meals

Bean and Chicken Sausage Stew

3/4 lb. chicken sausage
2 cloves garlic (sliced)
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomotoes
1 can low sodium chicken broth
1 bunch kale (torn into 2 inch pieces)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook or reheat the sausage in a bit of oil in a dutch oven. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add beans tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Add kale and cook until wilted. Season to taste. 

Seriously this took about 15 minutes to make. It was so fast I wasn't prepared to add the kale. My husband took Dottie for her walk and didn't come back for about 30 minutes. So I just let the soup simmer sans kale until he got home. Worked just fine and just made the flavor better. 

I could see so many good ways to change this up. Add different beans, more veggies and this would be an even bigger meal. We had some left over homemade bread from the previous week and I used it to sop up the liquid. Delicious!

As for the sausage, I really think you could use any kind. The soup basically takes on the taste of the sausage itself. We used Basil chicken we picked up at Henry's. Turkey, pork or another chicken sausage would be good too.

The kale, well that was awesome! Adds a great texture. Really add a whole bunch because it cooks down to practically nothing. I could have added more because it was that good. 

The book also listed nutrition at around 300 calories per serving, but I'd imagine that depends on how much you eat and what type of sausage you add.

Freezable, adapable, and awesome. What more can someone ask for? 

It was so good we ate all of it before I could take a picture :)

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