My husband joined a 12 week fitness program at work. The program works on cardio, strength and nutrition and upon completion will help to reduce our monthly health insurance payments as long as his numbers improve. He is motivated and came home a week into the program and handed me a list of “superstar foods.” I looked at the list and said, “I already use a lot of these in my everyday cooking.”
In addition to my husband’s program, my 16 year old daughter is taking a nutrition class at school. She comes home one day and tells me that we need to stop eating processed foods. I told her I would have to throw away her Chips Ahoy cookies. She frowned at me. Her teacher told the class that eating too many processed foods was contributing to obesity and poor health in our country.
Trying to be as supportive as possible to both my husband and daughter I told them that I would do what I could to incorporate the “superstar foods” and organic foods into our meals.
I decided to prepare our evening meal to incorporate as many of these foods as I could. I decided on a hearty soup. So I picked up kale, sweet potatoes, beans, onion, tomatoes, garlic and spicy turkey sausage and got cooking.
This sausage, kale and sweet potato soup was hearty and delicious. I added a few shakes of Tabasco Sauce to my bowl to spice it up just a bit. Recipes like this are definitely keeping our family on track with our nutrition, and I am always about saving a little money.
Ingredients
- 2 links Jennie-O Spicy Italian Turkey Sausage
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 rib celery, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 medium sweet potato, diced in ½ inch cubes
- 1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 15 ounce can white beans, Navy or Cannellini, rinsed and drained
- 1 quart low sodium chicken broth
- 3 cups chopped kale
- 1 jalapeno (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Tabasco sauce (optional)
Instructions
- Remove sausage from casing and brown in Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the onion and celery and continue cooking for about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and deglaze with about a cup of chicken stock.
- Add sweet potatoes and add enough stock to cover everything.
- Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally or until potatoes are almost cooked.
- Add the tomatoes and beans and any remaining stock.
- Cut a long slit in the jalapeno and add to the pot. Bring to a boil and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the Kale and stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil and cook until the kale is wilted about 5 more minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with crusty bread and Tabasco.
Notes
Nutrition: WW PP 7; Calories 348; Total Fat 3.4g; Saturated Fat 0.9g; Trans Fat 0.0g; Cholesterol 15mg; Sodium 268mg; Potassium 1465mg; Total Carbohydrates 56.2g; Dietary Fiber 20.2g; Sugars 5.5g; Protein 25.0g