Kale and Chicken Sausage Soup Recipe

One thing I love to make is soups. They are easy and rather quick if you use canned stock, but since I like to make my stock from scratch it only takes an extra 45 minutes to make stock.

Prep time: about 30 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Serves: 10 or more. Recipe can be cut in half or doubled.

Stock

In a 16 quart stock pot, add about 5 pound of chicken parts (I prefer no skin). Fill pot half way with cold water (about 96 oz. or 3 quarts.) Put pot on the stove top and bring to a boil on medium heat and turn down to low and simmer for 40 minutes. Remove any scum that comes to the surface. Add about 2 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper to taste. Once stock is finished, remove chicken, cool and shred chicken into bite sizes pieces to be added to soup later. If you are planning to use canned stock, use 3 – 32 oz boxes of low sodium and low fat chicken, vegetable or beef stock. If  you find the soup is not soupy enough for you, you may add more stock. I have a tendency to add too many ingredients to my soup pot. This comes from cooking for 3 men with hearty appetites.

 Soup Ingredients

• 1 bag of chopped kale
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 medium carrots, sliced
• 3 large ribs of celery, sliced
• 6 links of cooked chicken sausages, sliced thin (We like the hot ones, but mild work well, too. You may also want to omit or use fewer if you are planning to add the cooked chicken from the stockpot.)
• 2 – 16 oz can of black or red beans
• 1 – 16 oz can of corn (you can use frozen corn)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoons of cumin
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
• 2-3 cups of reserved chicken meat (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Add kale to a kettle of hot soup stock and cook about 10 minutes on medium low heat (kale will take the longest to cook). Add onion, carrots, celery, sausages, bay leaves, cumin, thyme, garlic, and jalapeno pepper and cook about 15-20 minutes or until carrots are tender. Add sausages, beans, corn, and, if using, cooked chicken, and cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve with a salad.