Scrumptious September Stew

Hey, I told you how much I love soup.  Tonight I decided to mix it up and make stew.  Alright, alright...it's just thick soup, you got me.  But it's so incredibly good and everything in this dish was locally grown (except the beans).  I'll spare you the soup poetry and get right to the recipe, but I really hope that at least one of these soups/stews I've posted lately has inspired you to put down those canned soups at the store and make your own. 

Kale-Sausage-and-White Bean Stew

For veggie option, simply leave out the sausage -- you'll get your protein from the beans and it still tastes great.  This recipe serves ~8.

Ingredients:

• 3 small yellow onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch kale, chopped/torn coarsely
• 2 c uncooked mushrooms, chopped (I used locally grown shitake and oyster mushrooms)
• 1 lb sausage (I used humanely raised and locally made Italian sausage), removed from casing and crumbled
• 1-1/2 c navy beans (or a 15-oz can, Eden Organic's the best!)
• 5-6 c diced/crushed tomatoes (I used my recently canned tomatoes; can also use canned tomatoes from the store)
• 3 c water
• 1/2 - 3/4 c fresh basil, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 - 3/4 c fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
• 1-2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 TBSP butter (or an additional TBSP olive oil)

Making Your Stew:

1. In a large, deep saucepan (or soup pot), sautee onions and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent.
2. Add kale and sautee on medium until wilted.
3. Remove kale-onion-garlic mixture to a bowl and set aside.
4. Place butter in pan and sautee mushrooms ~2 minutes.  Remove and set aside with kale mixture.
5. Remove sausage from casing and crumble into pan.  Brown sausage over med - med/high heat.
6. Once browned, add 1/2 the tomatoes (~2 cups) and continue cooking over medium heat.
7. Add rinsed beans to sausage and tomatoes, mix.
8. Add basil and parsley, mix, and continue cooking over medium heat.
9. Add mushrooms, kale, onions, and garlic, remaining tomatoes, and water (~3 cups, depending on the desired consistency) to stew.
10. Bring it all to a simmer and keep over heat for ~10 minutes to blend flavors.
11. Salt to taste.
12. You could add some freshly grated parmesan or crumbled goat cheese when you serve, but you absolutely don't need it.  This soup is flavorful and satisfying as is.
13. Enjoy!



shitakes, oyster mushrooms, and kale

 I hope you love it.  I had it for dinner tonight and it took tons of self control to pack up more than half of the leftovers into jars for freezing.  It also took tons of self control to not eat the mushrooms and kale while they were waiting to be added back to the stew (don't they look good on their own?).  But it'll be worth it when I get to have leftover sausage-kale-white bean stew some cold night when I just don't feel like cooking. 


Eat Well.  Live Well.  Be Well.  Make your own soups and stews.