Sausage and Kale Soup With Carrots and Potatoes

Because measuring chopped vegetables in cups is a bit awkward, I favor my kitchen scale — but if you don’t own one, I’ve given approximate amounts of the whole vegetable. For this recipe, I prefer chicken sausages over fattier pork ones.

Makes 6 servings

4 ounces chopped onion (about 1 small onion)

6 ounces chopped carrots (about 2 large carrots, peeled)

21 ⁄ ounces chopped celery

2

(about 2 medium stalks)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

4 precooked Italian-style sausages (I like Aidells brand), sliced into 1 ⁄4- inch rounds

13 ounces chopped white or red potatoes (about 2 medium potatoes)

461⁄ ounces beef stock

2

(one 32-ounce carton and one standard 14.5-ounce can)

1 bunch kale

Chop the onions and peeled carrots and celery as uniformly as possible. Heat a heavy-bottomed stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat; add the olive oil. When the olive oil is shimmering, toss in the onions, cooking and stirring them until they are translucent but not browned. Add the carrots and cook, frequently stirring, for 2 minutes, then toss in the celery and minced garlic. Cook the veggies for 2 more minutes, stirring to keep the garlic from burning, then move the veggies to the sides of the pot, creating a clearing in the center. Add the sausages to the cleared area and stir to lightly brown, being careful not to let the veggies burn. Toss in the potatoes; stir to combine everything. Pour in the stock and bring the soup to a boil. Once the soup has reached a rolling boil, cover the pot, lower the heat to medium/low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender.

While the soup is simmering, de-stem the kale: Hold it at the thick stem end with one hand, wrap your thumb and forefinger from your other hand around the stem and slide it down the length of the stem, pulling the leafy greens free. Repeat for remaining leaves. Hand-tear the leafy greens into bite-size pieces and place them into a large bowl. Fill the bowl with water, swishing the leaves around vigorously. Let the kale sit for 5 minutes in the water to give any grit time to fall to the bottom of the bowl. Without disturbing the water too much, lift handfuls of kale out of the bowl and into a colander. Give the leaves a final quick rinse under cold running water; set aside.

When the potatoes are fork-tender, turn off the heat and add the kale to the soup, submerging the greens until they wilt but are still bright green. Once they are wilted, stir the kale, incorporating it into the soup, and serve immediately.