Sausage and Kale Soup

The other day, I swung through the grocery store right after work without a list, but with a rough idea of what I wanted to make for the week. I knew that sausage and kale soup existed, but I didn't already have a recipe in mind. I picked up the kale and onion, figuring those were no-brainers. I chose a chicken and apple sausage because I'm currently eating foods without added sugar...for the next few weeks, anyhow--for more on that, read about the Whole 30. I realized I might need a few other ingredients, so I did a bit of googling and found this Food and Wine Kale and Potato soup which was really not very complicated. You probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry! That's winning to me.

I decided to modify this recipe a little bit. For one, the sausage I bought only had 3/4 pounds of sausage, and I didn't want to purchase another package so I decided to try it out--I didn't miss that extra sausage at all! I just cut the links into quarters lengthwise before slicing them up, and every bite has a little bit of sausage. I also wanted to use fewer white potatoes (even though they are now allowed on the Whole 30, I am a total potato addict, and am trying to cut back on potatoes for the next few weeks). I decided that apple sausage seemed like a friendly flavor for sweet potato, so I made up the difference with diced sweet potato. You might see in the picture that I added some leftover hashbrowns--just trying to use up what was in my fridge, not part of the recipe.

This would be a delicious soup for the fall, but I think you should cook outside the box and make it this week!

Ingredients

3/4 lbs   sausage (I recommend Turkey or Chicken)

1 large   onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, diced

1 quart  chicken stock

1 pound Kale--stemmed and torn into small pieces

2 cups   water (I inverted the proportions of stock to water--I usually buy quarts of stock)

2-3 med. boiling potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch cubes

1 med.    sweet potato, peeled and diced into pretty small chunks

1 pinch red pepper flakes

Process

1. Microwave the sweet potatoes in a bowl for between 45 seconds and a minute and a half depending on how small you diced them. You want them to be softened enough that they will cook quickly in the soup.
2. With a little cooking oil, cook the sausages over medium heat to get some color on the outside (a little char equals great flavor in your soup!). When they're finished, pull out the sausage and set them on a plate for later.
3.  Remove all but a little of the grease from cooking the sausage, then put in the onion. Cook for a few minutes until soft and clear. Add the garlic, and cook a minute longer (maybe 6 minutes total, depending on how hot your pan is)
4. Add the chicken stock, water, and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil. While you're waiting for the soup to boil, slice the turkey sausage (be careful if it's still hot!). Slice the sausages into quarters lengthwise, then slice into small pieces along the sausage.
5. Once the soup is boiling, add the sweet and white potatoes and the sausage. The white potatoes will cook while the sweet potatoes finish what you started in the microwave. Let the soup simmer for 2 minutes (I let it go for 5).
6. Add the kale and let it cook down for about 6 minutes, until tender and all wilted in. Add pepper to taste.

Pan Fried Chicken Tenders

For the first year of our marriage, I really only knew of one way to cook chicken. As long as there were no raw parts, I felt successful. See, I'm the kind of girl who loads her plate with side dishes at holiday meals--no pesky protein to get in the way of my mashed potato-ey goodness. So, chicken has generally always seemed like a safe (but bland) accompaniment to whatever else was on the plate.

My loving husband never once complained about my poultry preparation, but I eventually got tired of the-less than inspired-constancy. I even went through a phase where I would have been happy to never see another pack of chicken in my refrigerator. Common sense (and a sale on chicken breasts) won out. I read up on recipes around the internet, and cobbled together a method to make homemade chicken tenders with minimal effort and with items I almost always have on hand.

A few notes on the recipe: 

* The first few times I made this, I pounded the chicken before cutting because I could do that before taking the chicken from its food saver bag which meant less clean up. I find that that pounding the chicken tenders after cutting leads to more uniform tenders, and the resulting tenders are flatter meaning they crisp up better when you pan fry them. 

* You can buy the chicken tenders pre-cut. It costs a little more per pound of chicken, so I usually pass in favor of just cutting it myself. If there's a sale and you get the pre-cut tenders,  still pound them out. It's an extra step, but so worth it.

* I reference "Seasoning blend of your choice" in the recipe--I use a spice blend I'll be talking about next month. You can choose to add spices like cayenne for a kick, or stick to salt and pepper for a milder flavor
* I tried freezing the tenders once they were breaded and cooking them up later. They were still good, but the breading was not as crisp and it got a lot darker (because I was cooking the tenders longer). 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup all purpose flour                      1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 egg                                                    2-4 tablespoons of butter

2 chicken breasts                                 1 tablespoon seasoning blend of your choice

To prepare:

1. Cut each chicken breast into 5-6 pieces (or just open your pre-cut tenders). Cover with plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or a rolling pin until uniformly thin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Set up your breading station in three shallow bowls. In bowl one, mix the flour with the seasoning blend (or just salt and pepper). In bowl two beat the egg with a little water (about 1-2 teaspoons). In bowl three pour out the panko bread crumbs. I tend to eyeball the amounts of flour and panko based on the size of the chicken tenders you are starting out with.

3. Dust both sides of each tender in the flour, dip both sides in the egg wash, then roll in the panko. This can get messy! I just use the panko bowl as the resting place for the finished tenders, and push the panko to one side as you use up the bread crumbs.

4. For each batch, melt about 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet and fry the chicken for 3-4 minutes per side. I have been able to fit two smaller chicken breasts-worth of tenders into one batch, and barely been able to fit two huge chicken breasts-worth into two batches. Just make sure you wipe the super brown bits out after the first batch so you don't have burnt bits attaching themselves to your second batch of tenders.

5. Serve with any dipping sauces you desire! I eat this with sides of broccoli and macaroni, because it brings out my inner child.