Sausage, Kale and White Bean Soup

Last night I was craving something hearty and healthy so I came up with this really earthy and satisfying soup that is packed with flavor. I highly recommend it for a cold night when you feel like something comforting, but you also want to feel good about yourself once your through. In this recipe, I used pork kielbasa, but if you wanted to save even more fat/calories, you could use a turkey or chicken smoked sausage instead.

This recipe calls for Parmesan rind, which is literally the tough outside of a wedge of Parmesan. Due to the aging process when making Parmesan cheese, the outer 1/2"or so of the Parmesan cheese gets kind of tough and hard to eat. A lot of flavor also concentrates there due to the drying process. Most people just cut this off and throw it away, or grate it together with the rest. When making soups like this one, using the rind in the broth is a fantastic way to get that aged cheesy earthy flavor into a broth that otherwise might not be quite rich enough on it's own. During the cooking process, the rind will eventually dissolve into the broth and make it taste really rich.

Ingredients:

1 Pkg of Hillshire Farms, Polska Kielbasa (or any brand of your favorite smoked sausage), sliced into 1/2"thick rounds. I also sometimes use ground Italian, whatever you have on hand! 1 med Onion, medium diced 2 Medium Carrots, small diced 2 tsp. Fresh Oregano, finely chopped 2 tsp. Fresh Thyme, finely chopped 4 large cloves of Garlic, crushed 2 (15 oz) Cans of Fire Roasted Diced tomatoes 2 (15 oz) Cans of White Beans, drained and rinsed 2 Small or 3 regular bunches of Kale (preferably Italian Kale) rinsed, tough ribs removed and roughly chopped Parmesan Rind 6 cups of water 2 Tbs Chicken Bullion (Better than Bullion Brand) 3 dashes Tabasco (to taste)

Directions:

Place a soup pot over medium high heat and place your sausage rounds in it to brown. Keep stiring the sausage pieces around until they start to caramelize on each side and let out some of the fat. Once they are golden brown on each side, remove them to a paper towel to drain slightly.

In the same pot, place the chopped onions, carrots, Oregano, Thyme and Garlic and let cook until the onions become translucent and start to get golden on the edges.

Add the tomatoes, white beans, water, Chicken bullion, Parmesan rind and bring all to a boil. Let the soup simmer for 10 minutes and then add in the chopped kale and the cooked sausage pieces. Let the soup simmer over medium heat until the kale has cooked through and is tender.

At this point, taste your soup. You may need to add salt and possibly a little more Tabasco at this point.

This soup has 336 calories per serving based on it making 8 servings.

enJoy!