Rustic Mediterranean Kale Sloup

                      Rustic Mediterranean Kale Sloup

Today is refrigerator clean out day. I knew I had to use up the kale I bought. No hardship I wanted more of that salad I posted the other day and knew how good kale is in soup. That became what I intended to make for dinner and lunch today.

Now I had to decide what to put with the kale to make this soup. 

I wanted to go on line and check out recipes  to make sure I used the basic ingredients to bring out the best flavors in my soup.

I think it’s always a good idea to check so you get it right the first time.

 Now I knew what herbs and spices to use and all of them by the was in Italian seasonings.

Next I needed to see what had to be used up in the refrigerator and what can foods were needed for my soup.

I had a half can of bean and bacon soup (if you have not tried the Country Kitchen soups from Dollar General please do, they are delicious)

That will take care of some of the beans that go so well in kale soup if that was all I had it would do but I was sure I had more beans in the pantry. plus the bacon in the bean soup will add a deft of flavor that will be a bonus.

I took the kale, soup, and some celery, Yukon gold potatoes and onion out of the refrigerator and went over to the pantry to get the rest of what I would need to make this soup.

I took from the pantry a can of tomatoes with chilies (mild), (if you don’t have these kind of tomatoes use what every you have and just add a few red pepper flakes) a can of white beans, and onion soup mix. Now I was ready to get things going.

First I lined my crock pot with a liner (it saves so much on clean up later if you use these liners).

I pile all the ingredients into the crock pot except for the vegetables like celery, onion, and potatoes. These vegetables I was getting ready to put in the oven to roast when I had a brilliant idea. (Ok Rachel Rays brilliant idea) and at  the last minute I went into the freezer and grabbed a package of Italian sausage.

I have been craving spaghetti and sausage so why not I asked myself kill two birds with one stone? Add a little sausage to the soup like Rachel Ray does and have enough left over for a spaghetti dinner later this week. That works for me!

Now to deal with my problem. I have no kitchen sink. The couplings under the sink came apart during the freeze and of course needless to say it leaks badly and I can not fix it because I am not strong enough to loosen the fittings and reattach them and I will not have the funds to do that until next month.

Since this happened I have been using the bathroom sink. It’s a pain but serves it purpose and after sterilizing it I do the dishes at the end of the day.  I think the worse part for me is not doing the dishes right away. I am so OCD that if the dishes are not done on the spot it bothers me. Lol. All this being considered I have to be careful how many pots and pans I use and like today I have to think outside the box when it came to cooking the vegetables and sausage. By doing this I took it too a higher level and roasted my vegetables and sausage instead. Sometimes a challenge works out better than doing things in the same old way don't you think?

OK now back to the soup. On foil I placed the sausage I had defrosted in the microwave along with the vegetables like celery, onion, and potatoes. I then sprinkled them with oil (I use peanut oil most of the time but if you have olive oil use that either will do fine). Then I sprinkled some Italian seasonings, and cut up garlic and placed in the oven for a half hour at 400 degrees.

Then I noticed I had a crust of bread left and decided to cut that up as well and sprinkle it with oil, pieces of garlic and Italian seasoning. I then wrapped it  in some foil and put it in the oven for twenty minutes to make rustic croutons to use on my soup.

Now  what to call my soup.  I will name rustic Mediterranean Kale Soup.  No, now wait a minute. This is not soup really, not  any longer is it?  Well it’s not stew either. Ah I know what  Rachel Ray would call it. She would  call it sloup! Sloup is  when it is more than soup but has broth instead of gravy. Perfect that is exactly what it is!

So there we have it this recipe will be called Rustic  Mediterranean Kale Sloup!

Below is roughly what is in the sloup but please just use this as a guide and use what you have on hand.

Mediterranean Kale Sloup

Ingredients:

Half a bunch of kale

1 stalk of celery

1 onion

1 can of tomatoes with green chilies

1 a can of white beans or what ever beans you have

2 medium size Yukon gold potatoes

2 packages of onion soup mix

4 cups of water

3 cloves or teaspoons of garlic

2 Italian sausage

Directions:

Roast all the vegetables above except the kale and sausage  in the oven sprinkled with oil, Italian seasonings, and garlic for half an hour at 400 degrees then add to crook pot

In a crock pot add the two packages of onion soup mix and four cups of water.

Next either tear or chop the kale and add to the crock pot.

Finally add the tomatoes and cover and allow to cook until the

roasted vegetables and Italian sausage are done roasting.

Then add to crock pot and allow to cook on high for four hours.

When ready to eat top with croutons and enjoy.

This would go great with a green salad.

It smells so good cooking! I can wait until it's done!

I hope when you make this you will enjoy it as much as I will!