Kale?!?

We have some rabbits at work that receive kale for dietary enrichment. I don't ever remember having kale as a kid. I have been reading some cooking blogs lately and they do tend to be seasonal with their recipes. This is nice as it is easy to find good apples when they are in season and they will have a sudden influx of apple recipes. So I wasn't too surprised to see a few kale recipes going by recently as kale was in season. It wasn't until a particular recipe went by with chorizo that I decided to give kale a try. I love chorizo, there is something about it that is delicious. It might be the smoked paprika but it could be something else. This was a recipe for chorizo and kale soup. Since I saw kale at the store and it was cheap I decided to take a chance on it.

So I guess I have one thing to say, "why haven't I discovered kale sooner!" I loved the kale in the soup. I had no idea what it tasted like before I made the soup but it has an almost buttery texture and the flavour is very mild but almost cabbage like. It takes a little longer to cook but it is great. And it worked really well with the chorizo, chickpeas and white beans. I noticed that celery was quite expensive so I bought a couple of leeks to replace the celery in the soup and that was a great replacement. I think I might swap out the white beans for black beans or another larger white bean, but other then that, this was a great soup. This was actually an amalgam of two different recipes and I think this turned out great, so much so, that I don't think I will try either of the base recipes. I didn't have a cheese rind, but maybe next time. I also used regular curly leafed kale rather then the cavolo nero called for.

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Hearty Kale and Chorizo Soup
Serves 4-6

2 teaspoons olive oil
12 ounces chorizo sausage
1 large white onion, chopped and thinly sliced
4 stalks of celery, chopped (I used 3 leeks)
1 large sweet potato, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch (about 1 lb) kale, preferably cavolo nero, halved and chopped into thin ribbons
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 Tablespoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 rind Parmesan or Pecorino cheese (optional, but so good!)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can white beans, like navy, cannellini, or Great Northern, drained and rinsed (I used black and a can of corn)

Chop or crumble the chorizo into bite-size pieces. Film a heavy pan lightly with olive oil and put over medium-high heat. Cook the chorizo for about five minutes or until it starts browning and and smoking. Lift out to a bowl for later.

Pour a little more olive oil into the pan and turn the heat to medium. Add the onions and celery (leek), and cook for about ten minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic, and cook for another couple minutes, or until golden and fragrant.

Add 1/4 cup of chicken broth and the kale to the pot. Stir to coat everything with chicken broth and then cover the pot with a lid. Stir the kale every three minutes until it is barely tender, adding more broth as needed if the pot becomes dry, about 12 minutes total. Add sweet potato after 6 minutes.

Add the chorizo back in, cook all together for a minute, stirring. Add the rest of the broth, white wine, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, cheese rind, and 2 teaspoons of salt. If the veggies aren't quite covered, add extra broth or water. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until the kale is completely tender and the potatoes are cooked through. Add the chickpeas and white beans. Remove bay leaf and cheese rind.

An ode to Goya

I really should write a thank you note to the Goya food company. I wonder if the company was started by some homesick person who wanted easy access to cheap ready to use beans. They have a wide variety of canned beans and I just recently discovered they have large cans and extra large jumbo cans. I picked up two large cans of the white beans and made some supper easy baked beans. I cooked up some bacon and onions in a pan, added it to the beans with the sauce mix and baked for about half an hour. Turned out almost as good as the real deal with no soaking. I also use their beans to make chili. I wish I could get pre-cooked lentils but alas, they do not have those, just the dried variety.

I have been fooling around lately with a black bean soup recipe I found online. I made a few changes and have a real winner of a soup. Not sure why I suddenly want soups but I have been making some very nice soups. I made a nice black bean soup with chili powder and cumin. A cream of leek and potato soup, and creamy red pepper potage. I think this started with a soup mix I bought for a black bean soup that I thought was good but I felt I could do better. So I tossed some stuff in a pot and cleaned the fridge out in the process and voila, a great soup for a cold day. It was really quick to make and I generally have all the ingredients on hand. If I don't have pumpkin puree I just add more potatoes to thicken more.

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Black bean soup

in med stock pot over med/high heat, saute in 1-2 tsp olive oil until tender:
1 med onion diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2-3 clove garlic

when tender add and stir for 1 min:
1 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp chili powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste

add:
2-3 cups broth (veg or chicken)

bring to boil, add then simmer:
1-2 small potatoes diced
2-3 tbsp pumpkin (because I had some in the fridge)

When tender add:
1/3 can black beans, rinsed
puree mixture and place back on heat

add remaining can of rinsed black beans
small can of corn, drained
heat through and enjoy
add smoked chipotle tabasco to taste (my new favourite item)

Best enjoyed with taco chips.