Zuppa Toscana aka Adventures in Soup and in Kale!

For the month of January, I was in a facebook group for being a bit healthier.  Nothing crazy, but a lot of tasty recipes have been shared.  And a lot of people had recipes that included kale.  I've never really liked kale and haven't been able to figure out why other people do.  It is like super-bitter, crazy-textured spinach or something.  I like spinach, but kale just seems silly.  At one point I mentioned my dislike of kale and how I swapped it out of a recipe and my friend Meg gave me this recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/zuppa-toscana

I'll admit that the kale was fine in the soup.  However, I will also admit to eating the bites with kale first, so that I could eat non-kale bites....sort of like saving best for last.  OK, it was exactly saving best for last.

Changes I made to the original?  I used turkey kielbasa instead of spicy Italian sausage, and it was fine.  But I will try a spicier sausage next time. I also used half-and-half (regular, not low-fat or fat free) instead of whipping cream, and didn't have any cayenne.  Plus, I put in turkey bacon, but I don't think the soup needs the bacon at all, so I've left it off my ingredients list.

Explanation for the sort of weird photos: I didn't double the recipe.  However, I did realize that the only slow cooker I had was my party one, with 3 kinda small ones in one long base. I had to use two of the three for it, but it worked great.

A note on reheating: When I froze some left-overs and reheated in the microwave later on, the dairy was a bit separated-looking, but still tasted good.  Also, I added some shredded cheese and it was tasty all melted in!

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Italian sausage or kielbasa
• 4-6 russet potatoes, cut into bite-sized cubes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 1/2 bunch kale (or swiss chard), destemmed and cut/torn into bite-sized pieces (really make them small for better eating, I think)
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons flour
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Brown sausage links in a sauté pan or cook kielbasa
2. Cut in half lengthwise, then cut into slices
3. Place sausage, chicken broth, garlic, potatoes and onion in slow cooker. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables and meat.
   
4. Cook on high 3-4 hours (low 5-6 hours) until potatoes are soft.
5. 30 minutes before serving: Mix flour, salt, and pepper into cream, removing lumps.
6. Add cream and kale to the crock pot and stir.
   
7. Cook on high 30 minutes or until broth thickens slightly.