Portuguese Kale Soup

What better to do when it is 100 degrees outside than make soup!  I am not sure what I was thinking besides that I needed to try my hand at duplicating Au Bon Pain's Portuguese Kale Soup ASAP.  So I did! I love this soup (at any time of year apparently).  We got kale in our CSA last week and this afternoon the wheels in my brain got turning.  I realized I had all the ingredients for this (very) hearty soup on hand, so completely made up this recipe which turned out to taste really similar to my chain favorite.

Servings: 4

Size: 1 cup

Points Plus: 5pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Rating: 4 stars - Very Good

Ingredient List:

1 medium size rustic potato, chopped small

3 cups raw kale, de-stemmed and rinsed

1/2 cup red onion, chopped small

1 cup navy beans, rinsed

2 links Trader Joes garlic turkey sausage, cut into small pieces

1 T. olive oil

32 oz. chicken stock

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 bay leaf

1 T. fresh garlic, chopped

Dash of red pepper flakes, to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat 1 T. olive oil in a large stock pot.  Add potatoes and onion and sautee about 10 minutes. Add garlic and sausage, stir. Add kale and cover for 2 minutes, allowing kale to slightly wilt.  Add stock, navy beans, bay leaf, red pepper, salt and pepper to taste.  I added an additional bouillon cube because I like salt and I don't love the taste of canned or boxed stock.  Bring to a slow boil, set a lid on so that the pot is covered but not sealed.  Cook about 45 minutes, until kale is cooked through. Put in your favorite soup bowl and enjoy!

Tip:

I LOVE this soup cup! (as seen above)

XOXO - Katie