30 minute meal (for real): Sausage with white beans and kale

I recently read an article about how the abundance of cooking shows and "food tv" does both good and bad things to the morale of the home cook. On one hand, the 'round the clock cooking shows often provide great recipes and solid instruction. On the other hand, it often makes us feel insecure if we can't come up with an inspired, expertly executed dish with a handful of ingredients and a ticking clock (ie: the Iron Chef).

One such show that's often encouraged, yet discouraged me, is 30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray. Rachel's mantra is that anyone can throw together an amazing, multi-course meal (sometimes even with homemade dessert!) in 30 minutes. The problem is that those 30 minutes don't account for all of the pre-rinsing/chopping/measuring that goes into her recipes, nor the fact that she has more ovens and kitchen gadgets than most home cooks. Perhaps most importantly, it ignores the major clean-up that has to occur when one uses multiple pots, pans, and utensils to make that cute little 30 minute meal.

That's why I love this new recipe that I recently made. It was something that I really did throw together in its entirety in under 30 minutes. It's hearty, healthy, and contains only a handful of ingredients. And the whole thing only requires one pan. I know...kale seems kind of scary to the vegetable-averse, and it really took me a long time (I'm talking years) to work up the courage to cook with it. But I promise you it's good in this recipe. My kids even ate it. Here you go...

Sausage with Kale and White Beans

Ingredients:

2-3 large links of quality lean sausage (I usually use chicken basil sausage made at our grocery store)
1 large bunch of kale
2 cans of white beans (cannellini or navy beans)
chicken stock
1 clove of garlic, chopped (optional)
white wine (optional)
lemon (optional)
salt

Directions:

Saute the sausage in a large saute pan or stock pot until nicely browned and cooked through. Remove to a cutting board and slice on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices.

Separate the kale from the stem and roughly chop into bite-size pieces. Return the pan that the sausage was cooked in to the stove and set at medium-low. Pour in a little bit of stock or white wine, stirring and scraping with a wooden spoon until the browned bits come up from the bottom. Add the kale leaves to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to wilt. Add the beans, some chopped garlic, and enough stock to make it slightly soupy without actually being soup. Continue cooking until the beans and kale are soft. Add some salt to taste. If you want to boost the flavor a bit, you can also squeeze in a little lemon juice and/or add a splash of white wine.

Add the sausage slices back into the pan until everything is warmed through. Serve in a bowl with, of course, some crusty bread.

Soup to stave off the sickies

As I walked into Whole Foods, filled with self-pity for all the sniffling, sneezing, and phlegm-expelling I'd been doing over the last week, a little pamphlet by the front door caught my eye. I saw the words "COLD, "FLU," then..."Better Than Chicken Soup!" I immediately grabbed the pamphlet and flipped through it--praying for a recipe or a remedy that would help me out. 

Given the sorry state of my health at the time, if they had recommended boiling crocodile chunks and pureeing them with liverwurst I probably would have tried it. But the recipe for a comforting, semi-spicy miso broth soup made from a variety of immunity-boosting ingredients actually sounded good. I grabbed all of the ingredients I needed and headed home to whip up a giant pot of the stuff. Wow, was it good. It wasn't good in the same decadent way that buffalo chicken dip with Tostitos scoops is good. It was good in that homey, nourishing, delicious, "I know this is really good for me, but it actually tastes great too" way. I don't even like two of the ingredients (butternut squash and kale), but I liked them in this soup.

Here's the recipe (courtesy of Whole Foods):

1 small yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, sliced

4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth (I used chicken)

1 tsp ground turmeric

8 fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced

1 1/2 cups julienned fresh kale

1 cup cubed butternut squash

2 tbsp grated fresh ginger

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)*

6 thin slices astragalus root (optional)**

Juice of 1 fresh lemon

1 tsp miso paste

*Instead of cayenne pepper, I used a few squirts of sriracha, an Asian hot sauce that looks like this:

**I had no idea what astragalus root was, and neither did the guy working in the Whole Foods produce section, so I left it out. 

In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook onion and garlic in 2 tbsp broth, stirring occasionally, until tender and most of the broth has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add a splash of broth if needed to keep onion from sticking, then stir in turmeric and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in remaining broth, kale, squash, ginger, cayenne and astragalus. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, then add lemon juice and miso (adding more miso when still very hot will diminish it's probiotic benefits). Cover and let sit 5 minutes before serving.

I was so excited when this soup turned out great. It's the type of soup I can imagine making over and over again throughout the years. I can picture my kids away at college in 15 years, telling their roommates "My mom made this AMAZING soup whenever we were sick, and it made us feel a million times better. It was like magic!" 

I should point out, this soup is actually intended to prevent illness, rather than cure it. So even if you're feeling great, you might want to start eating some so you can keep feeling that way. 

Wishing everyone a healthy flu season!

Kale chips rock!

Kale is one of those foods I've been hesitant to embrace. I know it's really, really good for you, but there's something about the texture of cooked greens that turns me off. I love salads, and I don't mind some cooked greens thrown into an omelet or sauce, but I don't like a pile of cooked greens on my plate no matter how well it is seasoned or what it is paired with.

So I was intrigued when I came across a recipe for kale chips. Basically all you do is tear off bite size pieces of kale leaves (don't include the stems), spritz or drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with some salt, and bake in the oven for a few minutes, until they turn crispy and the edges just barely start to brown.

I was skeptical, but since I got some kale in my bountiful basket this week, I decided to give it a try. And it honestly was good. The texture is really light and crispy. It almost melts in your mouth. The kale flavor isn't completely eradicated, but it takes on a kind of nuttiness that makes it much more palatable than when it's eaten raw.

The best part of my little experiment was that my girls loved it! I told them I made "green chips" and set a bowl outside where they were playing. A few minutes later, that bowl was empty.

I'm so excited I found a way to enjoy a really healthy food, and it's SO easy. The only confusion came from figuring out what temp to cook them at. When I googled "kale chips" I found a bunch of recipes that were all basically the same - but some said to cook them at 400 degrees for 5 minutes, and others said to cook around 200 degrees for 25-30 minutes. I split the two down the middle and roasted them at around 325 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. I don't think it matters which way you do it - the key is to keep an eye on it until you see the edges of the leaves start to curl and brown.