Well hello, recipe post! It's been a long time. I've been sewing, drawing, and painting more and cooking less. And as much as it may seem like all we eat is soups I promise we eat lots of other things. I definitely have a soft spot for a meal-in-a-bowl as you know if you read this blog regularly, but I think its partially how tough this winter was and how much comfort we were wanting plus the inability to drive to the store last-minute for a jalapeno or coconut milk or any other random ingredient. We spent a lot of time/evening meals "making do" and actually this was just such a meal! Not really planned, mostly stuff we had on hand, and yet super tasty and rich and delicious.
And we needed it. Considering we were walking into our little local yoga place and it was sleeting!! We looked at each other, jaws dropped, like what?!?! Right now our goal is to live through it. And eat soups.
I should mention that I used homemade chicken stock which I really believe made all the difference. I used Ina's recipe (well, 1/3 of it). And I think it's pretty great. But if you don't have homemade chicken stock, the boxed kind would be fine.
So obviously I didn't make this up--I've seen some version of this somewhere/somewhat but I can't remember where. So this would be my version of whatever this is...
SPICY CHICKPEA KALE AND CHICKEN SAUSAGE SOUP
1 Quart chicken stock (plus 2 cups water & 2 chicken bouillon cubes)
1 large yellow onion
3 TBS olive oil
3-6 garlic loves, chopped
1 package dried chickpeas, soaked for 5 or more hours (like overnight)
2 chicken sausages (casings removed, if applicable and sliced thin)
1/2 large bunch of kale, stems removed and chopped
1 large dried red chile
2 bay leaves
1 TBS plus 2 tsp Cumin
s&p to taste
- Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in large pot or dutch oven over medium heat until the onions are transluscent; 8-10 minutes.
- Add cumin, bay leaves, red chile and dried chick peas and stir everything, coating in the olive oil until fragrant, a minute or two, then add chicken stock and water.
- Bring to a boil. Cover and cook until the beans are almost cooked: about 2 hours.
- Add the sliced chicken sausage and cook until the beans are tender. Salt and pepper to taste.
- 5 minutes before cooking is done, add chopped kale and stir until wilted and warmed through. Check salt again.
--If you don't like it too spicy, omit the chile pepper. It was really spicy but we love that.
--If you like your soup less thick (because I like them thick, then just add some more water and more salt, if necessary).
--Delightful with garlic toast! And also reheats well. We were really in love with this one and will most definitely make it again.
