Nov
This recipe was contributed courtesy of Meghan Slocum of Whole Natural Life.
This recipe originated as a vegetarian kale and potato soup from the cookbook Laurel’s Kitchen.
When Jesse and I first started making it together (sometime in 2007ish, I would guess), we soon modified it to include a hearty helping of breakfast sausage. When I make soup, I want it to be filling enough to make up the entire meal, which this recipe certainly accomplishes when you include the sausage. More recently, I also started substituting chicken broth for the water or vegetable stock called for in the original recipe–a modification that makes this soup both more flavorful and more nutritious.
If you don’t think that you particularly like kale, I’d still urge you to give this recipe to try. I’m generally not a big fan of kale, but I absolutely love it in this soup. Steaming it separately mitigates that really strong kale flavor, and something about immersing it in broth makes the texture much appealing than I’ve ever found any kale side dish.
- 1 large onion, diced
- Unrefined coconut oil or your favorite cooking oil
- 1 lb. pork breakfast sausage, ground (spice your own if you can't find any pre-spiced)
- 3 large organic potatoes, diced
- 1 bunch organic kale, ribs removed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 cups organic, pastured chicken broth, or more to thin soup
- Pinch nutmeg, or more to taste
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Saute onions in coconut oil (or your other cooking oil of choice) in a Dutch oven or soup pot.
- When onions begin to turn translucent, add pork breakfast sausage. Cook breakfast sausage, breaking up meat into small clumps as it's cooking, until cooked through.
- Add minced garlic and cook for a couple minutes, until the garlic is just barely beginning to brown.
- Add broth and the diced potatoes. Bring soup to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until potatoes are soft.
- While the potatoes are cooking, steam your chopped kale in a separate pot. (While you can let the kale cook directly in the soup, steaming the kale separately ensures that the kale flavor doesn't overpower the other ingredients.)
- After the potatoes are fully cooked, gently mash about half of them with a fork or similar tool to thicken the soup. Add kale to your soup pot. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. If your soup no longer seems brothy enough (we like it thick, but still definitely liquid), add water or additional broth until you reach your desired consistency. Serve and enjoy!
Meghan and her family have been eating traditional, real foods since 2010, which, combined with some time on the GAPS diet, has brought them significant health improvements. They love raw milk, grass-fed/pastured meats, tons of healthy fats like butter and coconut oil, and plenty of local fruits and vegetables. The Slocum’s have also been endeavoring to live a more natural life by eliminating disposable products and removing toxins from their home. Meghan honestly doesn’t strive to be perfect–as there are some modern conveniences that she’s just not willing to give up, but she has made a lot of strides in minimizing their use of commercial products that hurt them and the planet, and hopes to inspire you to do the same! You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
