Kale goes great in Soup!

I am always looking for something I can make ahead of time for dinner so that I can take it with me and leave some for the boys' dinner at home. This soup looks promising. I can prepare it and then keep it warm in the crockpot for the hour or so time lapse from when I cook it to when they get to eat it. Yes, we are like ships passing in the night around here...I know I kissed my husband goodbye this morning as he was waking and I was going to sleep, but I really don't remember it. Sorry babe! Enjoy your dinner and be quiet. 

Anyway, I knew there was still a bundle of "Dino" kale in frig waiting for me to do something with it. I also had some red potatoes, onion, garlic, and Portuguese linguicia sausage, so what better thing to make than an hearty soup using all of the above? Kale works well in soups and stews because it hold up to the heat without becoming green mush. 

Since I was starting the soup kind of late in the day, I decided to saute the diced potatoes in a saucepan with olive oil to brown them a little and speed up the cooking process. I also sauted the onion and garlic, and then browned the sliced linguicia sausage prior to dumping it all into the crock pot. The key ingredient here was the caraway seeds, and I had a good supply of them spice cabinet. I sprinkled the seeds in with the sauteed onions to bring out their flavor.

I set the crockpot to the high setting for 4 hours, and hoped the potatoes would be cooked theough by the time it was serving time. just before I left for work I stirred in the sliced kale and ladeled a bowl of soup into a portable dish that I can take with me. 

Later that evening, I was rewarded with a text from my husband that said, "Good soup, by the way!"  He's a very lucky man!

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 Smoked Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup    

Ingredients:

4 ounces smoked fully cooked sausage (such as kielbasa or hot 
  links), sliced into rounds
2 3/4 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
3/4 pound small red-skinned potatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup dry white wine
5 cups thinly sliced trimmed kale leaves 
(about 3/4 of medium bunch) or 3/4 of 10-ounce package frozen
   chopped kale, thawed, drained
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, lightly crushed

Directions: Sauté sausage slices in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add chicken broth, sliced potatoes and white wine and bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes. Add kale and caraway seeds to soup. Simmer soup uncovered until potatoes and kale are very tender, about 10 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and serve immediately.