Sweet potato and sausage soup with kale and white beans

The last few weeks have been full of travel, restaurants and a sad break from home cooked food. I did cook on Friday night though, and I have a whole refrigerator full of food for this week! On Friday, there was a chill in the air, so I went for soup. I wanted to fill the bowls with tons of nutrition after way to much junk the last few weeks, so I came up with this 'kitchen sink' recipe that was a hit with everyone across the board. Of course the kids wouldn't try the kale because it was way too green for them, but they loved the beans and sausage and Lucas loved the sweet potatoes as always. I made a very large batch with this recipe so that we'd have enough for another meal. You could definitely cut it in half. The chicken apple sausage wasn't totally intended, but since that's what Dan picked up when he went to the store, I went for it. Actually, it paired really nicely with the sweet potatoes, and I added some hot chili sauce to the finished soup for the grown-ups which was a nice play on the sweet and spicy.

Sweet potato and sausage soup with kale and white beans

Timing - about 30 minutes

Ingredients
olive oil
1 package fully cooked chicken apple sausage (5 or 6), chopped into small rounds
3 small carrots, chopped
2 small ribs celery, chopped
1 large shallot, chopped
3 small sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
4 sprigs thyme
1 T fennel seed
2 t cumin
8 cups chicken stock (2 boxes)
2 cans white beans (cannelini), drained
1 bunch kale, chopped

How to Make
Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat and add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Saute the sausage until it is golden brown and then remove with a slotted spoon. Saute the carrots, celery shallots and sweet potatoes for about 2 minutes until they start to brown and then put a lid on the pan for another 3 minutes to soften the vegetables more. Add the cumin and fennel and the thyme sprigs and stir until fragrant. Slowly add the chicken stock, scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan.

Bring the broth to a slow boil and then add the kale and put a lid on the soup for 10 minutes. Finally, add the beans and return the sausage to the pot and warm through for about 3 minutes. Serve with crusty bread for dipping.

Serves 8