This was meant to be a vegetarian recipe.
I had full intentions on only adding white beans.
Then I tasted it.
Ok, it tasted just fine….
But, my little culinary lightbulb went off in my head and said “hey! you know what would make this taste even better??? Sausage!”
hmmmmm……
I had sausage in the fridge (who doesn’t?). I could easily cook up a small amount and add it in. So I did.
My great intentions on providing another delicious Tofu Tuesday recipe were foiled by my wild meat loving brain. While the version I made was definitely not vegetarian, I know that adding vegetarian sausage crumbles such as the gardein variety or Wegmans style (if you’re lucky enough to live near a Wegmans!) would still be delicious, so therefore it counts. Either way, this is probably one of the tastiest soups I’ve made from scratch and highly recommend you try it! Why? Because it’s also a slow cooker recipe and who doesn’t love coming home to dinner already prepared?
Tuscan White Bean Soup
- 1 quart vegetable stock
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 pound sausage, precooked and crumbled (pork or vegetarian)
- 1/2 pound dried navy beans
- 3/4 cup chopped carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1-1/2 TBSP garlic powder
- 2 tsp dried rosemary
- 2 tsp dried Italian seasonings
- 1 bay leaf
- salt to taste
Cook the sausage separately and save grease and crumbles to put into soup. Place all ingredients in slow cooker except salt. Cook on low for 8 – 10 hours. Add salt and any other seasonings to your taste.
Crispy Kale
- 1 bunch of kale leaves
- oil
- salt
- pepper
- parmesan (if desired)
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Break kale leaves off stems and rip into small bite size pieces and place on large baking sheet. Take 1 – 2 TBSP oil (depending on how much kale you have) and toss with kale leaves to coat. Kale should be covered in oil but not soaking in it. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 – 12 minutes, or until leaves start to brown slightly. Sprinkle with parm once removed from the oven. Top soup with the crispy kale (aka kale chips).
Let me know if you try this recipe! And don’t worry, I’m sticking with my Tofu Tuesday resolution, however this weekend I had one lunch that was meat free and one dinner on separate days. Still working on it 🙂
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