Eagles Green: Kale, sausage and chickpea soup

Note: Due to a spammer, comments have been turned off for this post, and will be moderated from now on. Sorry!


A hearty winter soup, with lots of healthy leafy greens - and in keeping with our green theme here in Philadelphia!


Start by chopping and sauteeing two large onions, then cooking in a bit of bacon grease or olive oil until translucent:





Dump them into the crockpot.



Peel and chop a one pound carrot:









Oh - you don't have a giant carrot? Then just use a few smaller ones. Add them to the crockpot too.



Brown about two pounds of italian sausage, casings removed. (Hot or sweet? depends - do you like bites of spicy heat in your soup?)

Open and drain two cans of chick peas. Throw them in too. This is the ultra fancy Walmart store brand. We're high fallutin that way.

Wash and rip up a whole bunch of kale. (I would say 8-10 cups of raw leaves) I seasoned with just a touch of salt while cooking. Sautee briefly in a pan, in oil or bacon grease, before adding to crockpot.

To this add 8 -10 cups of liquid - either chicken broth, stock, vegetable broth or just water with concentrated chicken bullion. If you heat the liquid in the microwave first it will save a good bit of time before the soup simmers in the crockpot.

Cook for at least three hours to allow the kale to fully soften and all the flavors to merge. Serve with bread and butter, or popcorn, or crackers, or just a spoon!

pork, pineapple, peppers

Stir together in a crockpot:

2.5 pounds pork chops, seasoned with salt and pepper, seared for color, then cut into bite sized pieces

1 pound frozen pineapple, thawed (canned, in juice, would be fine too)

1 pound frozen pepper strips, thawed

2 large sweet onions, sliced into half moons

crushed garlic - 3-4 cloves, juice of two limes

1 can or two cups chicken broth or reconstitute bullion.

Starring diva ginger, with her back-up sisters, the pepperettes:

Cook for 6 - 8 hours in the crockpot on low. (about the time you start cooking rice, add some fresh ginger or some extra powdered ginger to the mixture to give it an extra kick)

Cook some sticky rice:

Serve by the ladleful, over rice: