soup night: white and green

The week we were blessed with fresh produce, storms crashed through town, throwing down hail (plenty of friends' vehicles, as well as Ryan's, still have battle wounds) and lots of rain. Spring storms call for a hot bowl of soup, and on "Kale Night," that's exactly what I whipped up.

In an all too familiar stroke of creativity, I combined about three different recipes (here's one from 30 Bucks a Week; of course another came from my mom, and yet another from a cookbook) to come up with my own version of kale and turnip soup. Here's what I decided on:


EVOO
Salt & pepper
5 cloves minced garlic
1-2 green onions or scallions, thinly sliced (reserve some of the green tops for garnish)
3 turnips, peeled and cubed
1 large bunch fresh kale
1 cup pearl couscous (or any quick-cooking grain)
1 can cannellini/white navy beans (rinsed)
4-5 cups chicken stock or water

Saute the garlic, onions, and turnips in a little EVOO until they've got a nice color and are almost tender, about 15 minutes or more. Add the stock and beans, and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Then add the couscous and kale, and cook until both ingredients are done. Garnish with fresh-ground pepper and green onions. I'm pretty sure that's all it took. The result was a smooth, tasty, fresh, hot bowl of wintery-looking goodness. We loved it.

But that night (remember the "kale" moniker?), I also made kale chips, which have made quite the impact in the blogosphere. Well, they made quite an impact in the kitchen as well.
They're SO easy: toss kale in EVOO, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet, sprinkle with S&P and pop in the oven at 350 until they're crispy... I did a small batch in the toaster oven, and snacked on a few before I told Ryan about 'em... And then he tried them and fell in love. I snagged a few more and let him finish the rest; when he was done, he asked me if kale was something we could get at the grocery store, so we could immediately make another batch. Compliments to the chef! :) We resisted the temptation due to the weather, but next time we're coming home with fresh produce we know what I'll use the kale for.