Bean, Kale, Rice & Sausage Soup

from: Beauty That Moves-Thanks Megan!!

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•  
  • 1/2 cup dry white navy beans, soaked overnight and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup Jacob's Cattle Beans (Kidney beans would be fine), soaked overnight and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup brown rice, soaked overnight and rinsed
  • 1/2 pound venison sausage (Any sausage of your choosing is fine, and you could easily use 1/4 pound.)
  • 6-8 cups vegetable or chicken broth/stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
  • 1/2 bunch of kale, chopped (we like it chopped fairly small)

Directions:

This soup has a simple list of ingredients, but the flavor is rich and complex. 

1. In a large stock pot, add the soaked beans, bay leaves and stock. Bring to a boil, turn heat down to medium high and cook for 45 minutes. Skim any foam off the top as the cook. Add the brown rice and continue to cook until the beans are tender. Add a little more water if necessary. Don't worry if the rice is not 100% cooked at this point.

2. Once the beans are cooked, carefully pour the beans, rice and liquid to a large bowl. 

3. In the soup pot, saute the sausage until about 1/2 way cooked (using your spatula or a wooden spoon to break up the sausage really fine), add the onion and continue to saute until sausage is fully cooked and onion becomes tender. Add the garlic and saute for one more minute. Drain off fat, if there is any, and if that is your preference.

4. Carefully add the beans and rice back to the soup pot. Bring just to the boiling point then turn down to low and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes.

5. Add the chopped kale and stir. Cover the pot again and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Serve.

I don't serve this with cheese but some Italian cheese would be lovely on top.

As with most soups, a bit of resting time (with the heat off) helps to marry the flavors even further. I hope you enjoy this soup, it is a new favorite in our home. You could substitute a few slices of bacon for the sausage. Also, this could easily be made vegetarian but would lack the smokiness the sausage brings.