Soup: Sausage & Vegetable with Kale

Some crazy weather going on here lately ~ I spied the first of the daffodils in the garden.  This, after a few consecutive days of nice weather and hope of an early spring. However yesterday we awoke to a thin layer of wet, heavy snow. Happily, the day redeemed itself  later bringing brilliant sunshine early in the afternoon, but not before I had begun last evening's dinner... having anticipated a snowy day.  It was good an comforting just the same.

See the grass moss  outside the window?  The snow had melted by early afternoon!


A simple pot of soup, this time with a half a bunch of chopped kale added for a nutritional boost.
I hardly make vegetable soup the same way twice,  and I really never use a recipe for this kind of soup.  If you've been cooking for any length of time, you probably don't either. :)
But if you'd like a description of how I usually make it, (with a link to a printable recipe) please see below.




I'm ready for SPRING!  How about you? :)


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When making soup I usually follow these general steps  depending upon the type of soup I'm making:
This time I started out by browning some pork sausage, (about 4 to 5 ounces of bulk breakfast sausage simply  because I had it on hand.) * After it it was lightly browned and no longer pink,  I drained the fat and removed the sausage from the  pot.  Next I added a little olive oil to the pot, added chopped onions (use as many or as few as you like, I like lots), cooked until translucent, then added a couple of cloves of minced garlic; stirred for a moment. Sliced carrots went in the pot next, along with sliced celery, some Italian seasoning, a bay leaf,  then added enough low-sodium chicken broth to cover  the veggies by a few inches.  (I used low sodium-canned, but if you have homemade,  by all means use it!)  I brought that to a boil, reduced the heat to a simmer,  added the cooked sausage to the pot along with  a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (I like Muir brand),  a can of undrained Cannellini beans (white kidney beans),  and some frozen petite green beans  (simply because there was half a bag languishing in the freezer.) You can add a couple of teaspoons of "Better Than Bullion" (Chicken flavor soup base), to enrich the chicken flavor.
I simmer until the firmer vegetables (carrots, potatoes, or other root veggies) are just tender.
Add salt & pepper to taste, and garnish of your choice; chopped parsley or other herb, a grating of cheese or croutons, etc.
* Beef, chicken or fish can be used instead of your favorite sausage.  If using already cooked meat, or leftover meat, add it at the end, just to heat through to avoid making it tough by overcooking.


If you would like a printable copy of a basic vegetable soup that is very similar to mine you can find it here.
These types of soup recipes are very versatile and are particularly helpful if you belong to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). You will likely  will be presented with an assortment of vegetables in your box.


Thank you for stopping by for a visit today ~ Blessings to you and your loved ones.
xo ~m.