Recipe Favorites: Italian Sausage and Bean Soup with Chard

(Updated December 2007. I'm sharing some of my favorite recipes during the holidays since I'm not doing much cooking.)

Long before I ever started thinking about eating the South Beach Diet way, I was a big fan of turkey Italian Sausage, something I use in dishes like Italian Sausage and Zucchini Soup, Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes, and Spicy Cherry Tomato Sauce for Pasta. This soup also has Italian Sausage, but it's very difference than those recipes, since there are no tomatoes. The combination of sausage, beans, and chard was inspired by one I saw in a cookbook somewhere, but I only jotted down "sausage, beans, and escarole, soup" so I can't tell you where I found it.

It was a combination that really worked. I had just picked the last of my swiss chard, and it was a bit chilly that day, so it seemed like this soup was a recipe whose time had come. Here are some highlights and step-by-step photos of how I made it.

Start chicken stock simmering with dried herbs. Wash the chard well, cut off stems, lay about six leaves on top of each other, fold in half lengthwise, and cut into ribbons about 1/2 inch wide.

Squeeze turkey sausage out of casing and saute, breaking into small pieces. Remove sausage from pan, then for added flavor, saute onions in same pan, scraping bottom to remove any browned sausage bits.

Add beans, onion, and garlic to stock and simmer 10 minutes. Add sausage and simmer 10 minutes more. Add chard and simmer about 10 minutes more.

Soup is done when greens are cooked and somewhat breaking apart and flavors are well blended. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Italian Sausage and Bean Soup with Chard
(about 6 sevings, recipe created by Kalyn with inspiration from a cookbook which can't be credited because I didn't write down the name)

8 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade, but you could use canned
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. ground fennel
3-5 links turkey Italian Sausage
1-2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
1 tsp. garlic puree or finely chopped garlic
2 cans small white beans (with juice)
swiss chard (or your favorite greens) - enough to make about 4 large handfuls of chard ribbons
freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving

In large soup pot, put chicken stock, dried basil, and ground fennel and bring to a low simmer. Simmer broth and herbs while you prepare other ingredients.

Squeeze sausage out of casing and saute in small amount of olive oil until sausage is well browned, breaking up with the back of metal turner as it browns. Remove sausage, and in same pan saute onions until they are softened, adding more olive oil if needed. Scrape browned sausage bits off bottom of the pan as the onions cook. When onions are soft, add garlic and saute 1-2 minutes.

To stock in pot add beans with juice, rinsing out each can with about 1/4 cup water. Add onions and garlic, deglazing pan with water and adding to stock mixture. Simmer about 10 minutes.

While stock and beans simmer, wash chard well, cut off stems, lay about six leaves on top of each other, fold in half lengthwise, and cut into ribbons about 1/2 inch wide. I like to cut the ribbons into smaller lengths so you don't get long pieces of chard which are hard to get into the spoon.

Add sausage to pot and simmer about 10 minutes. Then add chard ribbons and simmer about 10 minutes more, or until chard is softened and flavors are well blended.. Serve soup hot, with freshly grated parmesan cheese to add to each bowl.

South Beach Suggestions:

This is a great main course soup for any phase of the South Beach Diet. For phase one have a big bowl of the soup with a green salad. For phase two or three, this would be delicious with 100% whole wheat bread or pita bread.

Things you might want to know:
You can get Kalyn's recipes by e-mail.
There's a great way to print recipes on Kalyn's Kitchen.
It's easy to find out who's hosting Weekend Herb Blogging this week.
There are actual rules for Weekend Herb Blogging.
Here is another place where I write more about food.

Tags:
Food Recipes Cooking South Beach Diet Recipes
Low Carb Recipes Low Glycemic Index Recipes
Diabetes Friendly Recipes