Cooking: Portuguese Kale & Sausage Soup

I had no printed recipe or any idea of what I was going to make for dinner tonight. We had to work out so I knew I didn't want anything overly difficult to make so the only thing that came to mind was soup. What did I already have at home? Kielbasa, green onions, chicken stock. Hmm, I know! I'll make Chef John of foodwishes.blogspot.com's kale & sausage soup!

After our workout, we went to Lucky to pick up some kale, bacon, onion and potato. I remind you that I didn't have the recipe printed out, so I went by what I remembered for the ingrediants and what I had at home.

I started by peeling the leaves off the kale and giving them a good wash.

I diced the potato and onion next.

The bacon was chopped.

And then the kielbasa.

In my stockpot, I heated up a little olive oil and added the bacon. They sauteed until crispy. I took the bacon bits out and drained the oil until a little bit was left.

Then I added the onion and kielbasa and let those saute for a bit before adding the diced potatoes and a pinch of chili flakes to give it a little more heat.

The chicken stock went in next.

And then the kale.

Everything simmered together for a good 25-30 minutes or as Chef John says, until the kale is tender.

I garnished the soup with some cream cheese (I didn't have sour cream on hand) and a sprinkling of the bacon bits and chopped green onion. I also made a quick quesadilla!

This recipe was really good albeit a little watery, but it became the perfect consistency when I added the cream cheese and mixed it all together. Next time I think I'll add some heavy cream.

Recipe: http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2007/02/portuguese-kale-and-sausage-soup.html