Sausage & White Bean Stew with Kale

Ready to jump on the KALE bandwagon???

Trust me, you want to! This is one food trend that I'm diggin'!

For those of you who have never used dried beans, try it this once.  While canned beans are well & good, soaking the beans & flavoring them up good is the KEY to this wonderful dish!

Shopping List

1 lb Great Northern Beans (soak overnight in water)

8-9 cups of homemade chicken stock (remember all that we've been making & freezing...use it now!)

3 tbsp plus 1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion (diced)

4 stalks of celery (chopped)

3-4 carrots (peeled & chopped)

2 tsp of dried thyme

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley

2 bay leaves

1 14.5 can of diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted...they are my new fave!)

4 cloves of garlic (minced)

Ground black pepper

2 bunches of kale (washed, stemmed & rough chopped)

1 lb of smoked sausage

1 lb of HOT Italian sausage

In a non-stick skillet, saute onions, celery & carrots in 3 tbsp of olive oil.

  Add minced garlic, a sprinkle of salt, pepper, & dried thyme.

Pour 8 cups of stock & can of tomatoes in the crock pot.  Throw in 2 bay leaves. 

Add beans to mixture & let cook all day.

In the evening, cook Italian sausage & smoked sausage in a non-stick skillet.  Add a bit more garlic, basil & parsley while cooking.

Rough chop your kale after washing & trimming stems.  Add to simmering crock pot.  Stir.

 

Drain sausage mixture.  And, add to crock pot.  

Let simmer for 30 minutes. 

Serve with a warm, crusty bread. 

Absolutely delicious!  The Gunny said the kale reminded him of collards.  He really liked the consistency & flavor. 


 Soups On, y'all!

Recipe Credit:  Better Homes & Gardens (but, I tweaked it a LOT!)