Hearty kale soup with sausage, black beans, and hominy

I made a vegetarian version of this soup when I cooked for a friend’s weekend yoga retreat. Everyone loved that version, but I was even more excited to make it for my greens-loving husband. Alas, he is also a meat-loving husband. Luckily, sausage is a natural compliment to kale. It is also something that I often have more of than I know what to do with, so finding new uses for it is always welcome.

Kale is easy to grow and has a long season

It grows from frost to frost, so as soon as we are clear of the latter, I will be planting some. It is also easy to harvest and replenishes quickly, so it is a great addition to anyone’s garden (even a novice gardener like me). Last year I picked up four small organic plants at our local plant sale, planted them in our ordinary soil, gave them nothing but water, and enjoyed over ten pounds of kale over the season. Last year was a less than stellar year for some of my other crops, so it is a no-brainer that I will be planting kale again.

The rest of these ingredients are pretty ordinary and not expensive. I decided on a whim to make this, so I had to go out and pick up the peppers, cilantro, hominy, and kale (as it is not quite time to plant anything here in Chicagoland, despite today being the equinox). I had the sausage in the freezer from some long ago sale, and the queso fresco on hand from making shredded beef tacos from the latest Cook’s Illustrated last week (which were incredible, incidentally). Black beans, onions, tomatoes, garlic, chicken stock, and olive oil are all things I am never without.

Roast your peppers

My intention was to post about roasting peppers in general before posting this soup, but that didn’t so much work out, so there isn’t as much detail here as I would like to have. There are lots of ways to roast peppers. They can be done in over an open flame, under the broiler, or in a very hot oven. I can’t say one method is better than another, it is just about what works for your situation. If I am doing one pepper, I will do it over my gas range. If I am doing ten, they go in the oven.

In this case, I had three poblanos, which fit perfectly in my toaster oven. So that is where the went. It took about 25 minutes, but it really varies, so they just need to be watched and turned periodically.

They are done when they look deflated and evenly dark.

Let them sit in a covered glass container until they are cool enough to touch. At that point it should be easy to remove the skin, stem, and seeds. For this soup, then chop and set aside.

Good with sausage, but easily made vegetarian

If you are using the sausage, dice it up, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a dutch oven, and saute the sausage.

Dice two or three onions to get about three cups. Mince a jalapeño or two. I used two, and this came out quite spicy.

Add the onion and pepper to the sausage. If you are not using the sausage, add two tablespoons of olive oil to a dutch oven over medium heat, then add the onion and pepper. Saute until soft, about five minutes.

Add about four minced garlic cloves and a generous tablespoon of ground cumin, and saute about 30 seconds until fragrant.

Add six cups of chicken broth, two cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes and their juices, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper. Start adding about a pound of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces, by the handful. The above picture is the first handful. After I added a few more, I stopped taking pictures because I started to worry that it wouldn’t end up fitting in my chosen vessel. Worry not! So add all of the kale, incorporating as you can, then cover and simmer for about ten minutes. If the kale isn’t all immersed at first, stir occasionally to make sure it cooks evenly.

Somehow, kale that literally stuffed this pot when raw cooked down to this in a few short minutes!

I don’t love all of the extra ingredients found in canned black beans (at least the ones that can be found at reasonable prices), so I pre-cooked ½ lb of dry black beans. You can do that or use 2-3 cans. Add the black beans and simmer until tender if they are not already.

Add a 29 oz can of rinsed and drained hominy and the reserved chopped poblanos. If you are not familiar with hominy, it is corn treated with lime and salt. If you like corn, you will probably like it. If you don’t, you could use diced potato (added earlier, like with the broth, etc.) or another type of bean such as cannellini.

Simmer until it is all warmed through. Season with additional salt, to taste.

Ladle into shallow bowls and garnish with something rich and something bright. I used crumbled queso fresco and chopped fresh cilantro. You could use sour cream, sharp cheddar, scallions, parsley, or whatever suits your tastes and doesn’t require a trip to the store. Crusty bread won’t hurt, either!