Wednesday

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? :)



~*~*~*~*~*~


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.
 




10 comments:

  1. Mari -- that looks devine!! Really enjoy greens in my soups and kale is my current favorite :)

    Blessings!
    Gail

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sometime ago, I read that one should not just throw soup together willy-nilly. I took it to heart--for a short while!! I found that the soups I did my own way were most always better than those I carefully put together. Your soup sounds delicious. I love the "layers" in your photo--a little winter and a little spring.

    Best,
    Bonnie

    ReplyDelete
  3. We just finished a very similar bowL)

    Another wee storm again today.. can't believe we went to Costco w/ Caro and Oli..lots of accidents..white outs..
    Oy..this winter has been winter..
    Lovely pics..and those pretty blooms..so perfect aren't they:)?
    Cozy here ..thank you~x

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am definitely ready for Spring. I awakened to sunshine and a sprinkling of snow, but still have one foot heavily in comfort food like this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am more than ready for spring and my tulips are starting to peek through the ground. However, we are supposed to be hit hard with ice and snow tomorrow...ugh.

    I love soup of most kinds and sometimes throw spinach in my vegetable soup. Kale isn't always available in my small town, but I do like it when I can get it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a beautiful soup! The photos are amazing...

    ReplyDelete
  7. that soup looks hearty and wonderful!

    and your basket of blooms is just delightful!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks wonderful. Great photos. Our weather (very rainy) is perfect for your soup. Thanks for all the tips.

    I have a 50 mm lens but can't get shots like yours. How far do you get from the item you are shooting? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Gail, you are looking so good!! Congratulations, sweetie!

    Bonnie (FTK), I agree ~ when I'm following a specific recipe I usually follow it ~ but I love these "free-form" soups most of the time (allows us a little chance to be creative, yes?!)

    Monique, oh dear! Stay safe and cozy. xo

    Val, our weather has been so erratic as well (and I know I'll miss this comfort food as well . . . as soon as spring comes.)

    Hey Sue, I'm with you, my usual go-to leafy green veg is spinach, too. Always available!
    Kim ~ thank you!

    Betsy ~ thank you and good to hear from you!

    Thanks for taking the time to comment everybody!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Bonnie, thank you for your kind words.

    For a prime lens (fixed lens like a 50mm), i usually compose the approximate shot then move (forward or back) until I can manually focus the shot sharply (or use auto focus.)

    These shots were all taken with Canon 24-70mm 1:2.8L (zoom) lens (mounted on full frame camera.)

    For the close-up of the soup bowl I was about 20-24" from the subject @ 70mm. Your results will be different if you're using a cropped frame DSLR camera.

    My best advice is just keep taking pictures until you are pleased with the outcome (you can always just erase what you're not happy with.) Hope this helps!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments, friends ~ they make my day!

A Sampling of my food . . .

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