Recipe: Portuguese winter soup

Seeing as how it's this weekend, I thought I should finally take the opportunity to talk about what I did last weekend. Well, I went home for some good eating in my home town of Hamilton, Ont. I went to two splendid, independent restaurants ( sad to say, a rare find in Hamilton these days) but I will post on that after. First, my soup!


This healthy soup is rich in protein, thanks to turkey sausage (make it veggie by leaving this out) and white beans, as well as vitamins and minerals thanks to carrots, kale and tomatoes. We had it with home made pesto bread for dunking. It's truly soup that eats like a meal and will leave you feeling full for only 230 calories a serving. It makes 8 to 10 servings, and only takes 20 minutes of prep, so it's a quick meal that will last several days.

You will need:

4 hot turkey sausages, sliced and cooked
1 tsp oil (optional, without meat)
2 onions, chopped
3 large minced garlic cloves
3 large potatoes, washed and cubed
1 tsp hot pepper flakes or paprika
2 carrots, chopped
1 can diced or whole tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 bunch kale, ends cut off and chopped into bite size pieces
1 can white kidney beans, drained
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Directions:

Chop sausage coarsely. In large stockpot that will be used for your entire soup, add sausage and saute on medium heat about 8 minutes. Remove sausage and set aside in a bowl. If not using sausage, heat oil in saucepan and move to next step.

Saute onions and garlic over medium high heat for about 5 minutes. Add vegetables, tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, red pepper flakes and sausage. Let boil uncovered for 20-30 (the longer the stronger the flavour is) minutes on low.

Meanwhile, wash kale, remove stems and chop. Drain beans. When soup simmering is done, stir in kale and beans. Add salt and pepper. Let it cook about 5 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Serve!