Soup: Its like a hug for your insides

Happy Friday!

And what a cold, dreary Friday we are having here.  It seems that most of the country is still firmly entrenched in winter, which means its time to share one of my all time favorite soup recipes.  Sadly, no pictures for this one, but I assure you it is delicious!


Sweet Potato, Sausage and Kale Soup
Cooking Light, March 2007

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 teaspoon, divided
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 lb. sweet turkey Italian sausage*
2 1/4 pounds coarsely chopped, peeled sweet potatoes
5 cups water
4 cups chicken broth
16 ounces kale
16 ounces canned cannellini beans (or other white beans)

Directions
Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add onion; saute 5 minutes.  Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, and garlic; saute 1 minute.  Remove casings from sausage; add sausage to pan.  Cook 5 minutes or until sausage is lightly browned, stirring to crumble.  Add potato, 5 cups water, and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes.  Gradually add kale; cook 10 minutes or until tender.  Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and beans; cook 5 minutes or until heated through.

*While the recipe calls for mild turkey sausage, Seth and I prefer a little more kick and generally use hot sausage.  If we can find hot turkey sausage, we use it, but other wise it is fine to use pork sausage.

Enjoy!