White Bean & Kale Soup with Sausage

There's nothing unique about this soup.  Nothing revolutionary or particularly exciting.  It's not original. In fact I believe I might have posted something similar a long time ago.  The truth is, it's just soup.  But it's good soup, and can be made in a flash; I imagine it could even be prepared in a slow-cooker and left to mingle while one is at work.  I wouldn't know, since my slow cooker died recently - a very slow, burning death on New Year's Day, whilst making pork and kraut.  But, I digress.  Why should I post such a boring recipe?  Well, because it's easy, it's wholesome, it's fast, and it's very good for you.  It's also very tasty.  You can reinterpret it as you see fit.  It's the sort of very easy soup you could even make if, say, you were a healthy, organic and local-food sort of fast-casual restaurant which refuses to serve soup.  You can even take this recipe and keep it as your own.  For free.  This soup can have as few as 4 ingredients, minus salt and pepper.  Stop making excuses, Northstar. I even used chicken sausage to make it extra healthy.

This soup is even better in the early fall, when local greens just start to become really good - after the first few frosts, and there's a slight nip in the air, or when it's supposed to be Spring but instead it's cold and rainy.  This is a great time to use those Parmesan rinds, if you save them like I do.  Of course, you could buy them at Whole Foods, but I don't know if it's important enough to spend the money.

White Bean & Kale Soup with Sausage - serves 2-4

3 hot Italian sausages, either chicken or pork, depending on how many calories you feel like having, cut into disks
2 bunches kale, chiffonaded, rinsed in several changes of water
2 cans great northern beans
6 cups chicken stock (I used a mixture of chicken and duck stock, because that's what I had in the freezer)
1 Parmesan rind
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes or to taste
good extra virgin olive oil
good balsamic vinegar
freshly grated Parmesan, for serving

Preheat a large soup pot over medium heat and add a little olive oil, then add the sausage.  Brown very well, preferably getting some good brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.  If you are using pork sausage, drain off any excess fat.  Add the kale and the beans, stirring a little to scrape up the bits without crushing too many of the beans.  Add the stock, again, scraping up any bits.  Place the Parmesan rind in, if using, and add the salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 30-45 minutes, or until the kale is soft.  You might want to add a little more stock, if the soup looks like it's going to be too thick. Ladle into bowls and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and a few drops of Balsamic vinegar, if desired - this is totally optional, but it does give a nice little richness, especially if using chicken sausage.  Grate a little Parmesan over and serve with some nice crusty bread.  Yum!