Winter Is Here, Soup Is On

We awoke to another dose of wet snow this morning. Thus far the season has been fairly dry, but cold. Hopefully we will see a snowy winter to make up for the drought the Northland is experiencing.

With winter, also comes the time to prepare hearty soups to warm the soul. The other day I prepared a simple, yet wonderful sausage kale soup. To balance the rich salty flavour of the sausage, I made a side of cranberries sweetened with maple syrup. I was still able to get local leeks, garlic, potatoes, wild rice, cranberries, maple syrup, and the kale was from Minnesota so this was a perfect meal from the Northland.


Sausage Kale Soup

2-3 Italian or similar sausages (casings removed and broken into pieces)
4 C Chicken Broth
1 Leek, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T herbs (oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary-any combination)
3 small potatoes, cubed
3 C kale, coarsely chopped
salt & pepper to taste

-in a soup pot heat the sausage on medium heat until fully cooked
-add leek, garlic. and herbs and saute until soft
-add chicken broth and heat until hot
-add potatoes and cook until almost tender
-add kale and heat until potatoes and kale is cooked to preference

*I also added some leftover wild rice-very tasty. White beans would also go well in this soup.