Sausage and Kale Soup

I live in a cold climate so soup is one of my favourite meals to take to work for lunch. It is easy to make a large batch and it reheats much better than many other foods (dry chicken breast, I'm looking at you). But many soups leave me hungry again within an hour. This soup is packed with protein and fibre that will keep you full all afternoon.

Ingredients:

- 1 tbsp olive oil

- 12oz sausage

- 3 chopped carrots (about 1 1/2 cups)

- 1 medium onion

- 4 stalks of chopped celery (about 2 cups)

- 6 cloves of garlic minced

- 3 cans (14.5oz) of chicken broth

- 3 zucchinis

- 1 cup of water

- 1 tbsp parsley

- 1 tsp rosemary

- 1/2 tsp oregano

- Salt and pepper to taste

- 1 can (14.5oz) beans of choice (cannelloni are my favourite)

- 5oz kale (pre-cut is the easiest)

Directions:

1. Dice your carrots, celery, zucchini, onion and garlic.

2. Sauté the zucchini* is 1 tsp of olive oil until very soft, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer the zucchini into a blender (or use an immersion blender) and add the chicken broth. Once the zucchini has cooled, blend to create a thick base for the soup.

3. Sauté the sausage meat in 1 tsp of olive oil until cooked through. I like to remove the casing so I am left with a sausage crumble. Alternatively, you could slice the sausage into medallions once cooked. Once the sausage is cooked, drain and set aside.

4. Add carrots, onion and celery into the pot and sauté with remaining olive olive until soft, around 3-5 minutes.

5. Add garlic** and sauté another 30-60 seconds until the garlic is fragrant.

6. Stir in the zucchini broth mixture, water (optional, depending on how thick you like your soup), and spices***. Bring to a boil over medium heat and allow to boil for 10 minutes.

7. Add kale and continue to boil for 10 minutes until kale and veggies are desired level of softness.

8. Stir in sausage and drained beans. Let cook until both are warmed up.

*Tip: sauté your ingredients in a large soup pot and do not clean between batches (i.e. - zucchini, sausage and veggies). When the soup cooks in that pot, all the stuck on bits will come off and add tons of flavour. You also have the added bonus of using only one pot, yay less dishes!

**Tip: always use fresh garlic, not the pre-chopped kind, the flavour difference is huge. If you don't like cutting garlic, buy a garlic press (like the one here). All you have to do is add your clove and squeeze and you will have fresh garlic with no chunks in 3 seconds flat.

***Tip: taste your soup while it's cooking to make sure you like the spices. If you're finding the soup bland add more salt and some more of your favourite spice (I like to do granulated garlic) until it tastes good to you, everyone's taste buds are different.