Tuscan Stew with a Secret Ingredient
Is there anything more positively verdant than dinosaur kale? My favorite thing to make with it is this buttery Tuscan Stew -- but it doesn't actually have buttering it! It has a secret ingredient that gives it that buttery flavor, coconut milk.
Here’s what you need:
- Glug of Olive Oil
- 2-3 Local Onions from Olivette Farm, Chopped
- Italian Sausage (links removed from their casings)
- 16 ounces Chicken/Vegetable Broth
- 4 or 5 Yukon Gold Potatoes, Cubed
- 1 Can of Coconut Milk
- 1 Bunch of Dinosaur Kale, Chopped
- Salt, Black Pepper, Red Pepper, Sage to Taste
Other ingredients that are yummy to add:
- Cannelinni Beans
- Additional Veggies of Your Choosing
- Small Pasta or Quinoa
- Bacon
Here’s what I do:
- Heat the olive oil in a soup pot.
- Sautee the onion and carrot.
- Add the sausage and cook through.
- Season with salt, black pepper, red pepper and a tiny bit of sage. (Or skip the sausage.)
- Add the broth and cubed potatoes.
- Bring to a light boil and then turn down the heat to simmer. Simmer until the potatoes are soft.
- Add the chopped kale and simmer just for a couple of minutes.
- Add the coconut milk and stir in briefly.
- Heat the soup through but don’t boil the coconut milk. It looses its creaminess you boil it.
- Add a little more salt/pepper/sage/red pepper to taste.
There are a zillion variations, but the important elements are the dinosaur kale and coconut milk tossed in at the end — two ingredients you don't want to overcook.
This soup is on heavy rotation in our house, even in the summer when it’s really too hot for soup. The coconut milk tastes like butter, not coconut, but the kale keeps everything so light and refreshing. It’s a great year-rounder.
