Soup Review: Sausage-and-Kale Soup by Martha Stewart

                      Martha Stewart's Sausage-and-Kale Soup                         

Seriously Soupy's Sausage-and-Kale Soup

                                                                

After this weeks lentil and apricot soup I had a heaping amount of leftover kale that I still wanted to make good use of. I discovered this sausage-and-kale soup from Martha Stewart's publication Everyday that would not only use the kale, but utilize other ingredients (onions, potatoes, red pepper flakes, olive oil) that I already had on hand. I loved how the recipe used a minimal amount of ingredients, as well as had a quick prep and cooking time that resulted in a hearty, yet spicy soup that was ready in less than an hour! While I was preparing it I thought it was odd that it did not require any salt or pepper (something I would never think twice about not adding), but the soup (and its combination of flavors) worked really well on its own, which didn't require any extra condiments. While enjoying this soup, I discovered (once again) that some simple ideas (making the soup a bit spicy with sausage and kale) can create a different taste combination by simply using ingredients in a new way. This nice kick, along with some simple ingredients can also easily be modified if you don't like sausage by adding another type of meat or made vegetarian by adding seitan, tofu, beans, or pasta, etc. Check out this spicy Martha creation and let me know what you think:

Sausage-and-Kale Soup
Recipe by Martha Stewart from Everyday
Try serving this hearty soup as the main course of a light meal.
Prep: 15 minutes
Total: 50 minutes 

  Soup cooking with broth, potatoes, onions

Ingredients
Serves 4

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
• 5 waxy potatoes (1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 3 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bunch kale (12 ounces), stemmed and shredded
• 12 ounces smoked chicken sausage, cut into 1/2-inch half moons
  

Directions

1. In a large pot (6 to 8 quarts), heat oil over medium. Add onion and cook until soft, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and red-pepper flakes; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add potatoes and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. In a blender, puree half the soup. Return to pot; add kale and sausage. Simmer until kale is wilted, 10 to 15 minutes.

P.S. The only thing I modified was to hand blend the ingredients in the pot, as opposed to taking out half of the soup and pureeing it in a blender. I also ended up adding a little bit of water (about 1 cup), since I didn't feel like the consistency was soupy enough, at least for my standards.:)

Have you tried any Martha Stewart soup recipes?

Seriously Soupy Serena

Mayan Sweet Potato Soup

Mayan Sweet Potato Soup by Jessica Lacher-Feldman
photo by Thomas Little

Mayan Sweet Potato Soup

A soup inspired by my little babe is really sweet and the fact that it is a sweet potato soup is quite appropriate. Personally, I love a good sweet potato soup, and having created a sweeter one for the holidays with my Sweet Potato/Cranberry Soup I really enjoyed reading about this recent recipe submission that paired sweet potatoes with numerous spices. Created by Jessica Lacher-Feldman, the soup includes cumin, chili powder, and tabasco (to name a few key ingredients) that gives the soup a nice kick, which pairs nicely with the sweetness in the potatoes. The soup was also prepared with similar cooking mantra to myself–"cooking by taste and eye, adjusting as you go."  So, when preparing this soup be aware that the measurements are rough estimates and can modified based on your preferences (less spice, more sweet, etc). Check out Jessica's sweet potato recipe with a kick: 

 

Mayan Sweet Potato Soup

Guest Blogger: Jessica Lacher-Feldman

Ingredients:
water, enough to cover everything completely
1.5 quart cartons of Pacific organic chicken broth
5-6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large or two medium onions, chopped up
4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped up
1 raw chili pepper (I used an anaheim), remove seeds and chop
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of tabasco
2 tablespoons of agave nectar or sweetener to taste (optional - my sweet potatoes were kind of old)
2 tablespoons of cumin, to taste
a teaspoon of hot Mexican chili powder, to taste
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper 

Directions:
In a dutch oven or heavy pot, add the oil, sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic. Season with generous amounts of cumin and chili powder, along with pepper. Sautee and add a little water to the sweet potatoes, which will give the onions a little color.  Add the chili and let cook for five minutes or so. Add more water and chicken stock and bring to a low boil, reduce and simmer until tender.  Blend until smooth (I used a potato masher first, then the hand blender) taste and re-season with salt, tabasco, and pepper.  Add a touch of sweetener if soup has lost it's sweetness (not really necessary but it was for mine).

Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds, crushed tortilla chips, cilantro, or whatever you like.

What are some other ways to prepare sweet potato as a soup?