Kale Soup

I pulled out a cookbook from Emeril Lagasse the other day and was inspired by his Kale Soup.  The first thing that impressed me about this soup is that it included kale and beans which are a staple in my house.  The second thing that impressed me about this soup is that it made 5 liters of soup.  That is a lot of soup!  Dinner for the rest of the week, yeah!

The original recipe includes chorizo sausage and chicken stock.  This is fine for omnivores.  If you are a vegetarian, then you can omit the sausage and use vegetable broth.

I make it with organic chorizo sausage I sourced from Funny Duck Farms http://www.funnyduckfarms.com/ who are located at the Ottawa Organic Farmers Market http://www.oofmarket.ca every Saturday between 10am and 2pm.

Joanne Levesque, RHN, Pure Med Office Manager

4 tablespoons olive oil  1 pound chorizo sausage, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices  1 large yellow onion, chopped  Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste  6 to 8 cloves garlic, to your taste, minced  1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves  1 cup dried white kidney beans, soaked in water for 24 hours* and drained  1 cup dried red kidney beans, soaked in water for 24 hours* and drained 4 quarts homemade chicken stock, or homemade vegetable stock 2 bay leaves 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, use more if you omitted the sausage 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced 2 bunches kale, well washed, stemmed and cut into thin strips Heat the olive oil in a heavy 8-quart stockpot over medium heat.  Add the sausage and onion and cook stirring for 2 minutes.  Add the garlic, parsley, and beans and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.  Add the chicken (or vegetable stock) and bring to a boil.  Add the bay leaves, thyme, and the crushed red pepper.  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the beans are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.  Add the potatoes and kale, season with salt and pepper and continue to simmer until the potatoes are tender, about another 30 minutes.  Remove the bay leaves. This soup keeps well in the refrigerator in jars for up to 10 days. *Do not salt the soup until the beans are cooked.  Salt doubles the cooking time for beans.  As well, the longer you soak the beans in water, the less time you will need to cook them.