Ingredients

The following ingredients have 7 Servings
  • 1 lb ground Italian sausage (mild or hot, casings left on and thinly sliced)
  • 2 small strips bacon (chopped(optional))
  • 1 yellow onion (diced)
  • 2 medium carrots (thinly sliced on the diagonal)
  • 3 - 4 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (any color)
  • 1/2 bunch kale (deveined and torn into 1" pieces)
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • salt (or chicken bouillon to taste)
  • black pepper (or red pepper flakes to taste)

Instruction

  • Place soup pot over medium-high heat. Add Italian sausage and bacon then brown until cooked completely through, about 6–8 minutes. Remove sausage and bacon from pot and drain as much grease as possible into a heat proof container. Return pot to stove and reduce heat to medium.
  • Measure 2 Tbsp fat back into pot and add diced onion and carrots. Cook for about 4–5 minutes until onions are translucent stirring occasionally. Add garlic then cook 1 additional minute.
  • Sprinkle flour over onions and cook while stirring for one minute. Pour in chicken broth and scrape up any brown spots in bottom of pot. Bring to a boil then add uncooked quinoa. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender.
  • Stir in reserved sausage and bacon. Add kale and let it simmer in the soup until it reaches desired tenderness—5 minutes for crisp-tender or about 5–10 minutes longer for softer kale.
  • Stir in heavy cream, season to taste with salt (or chicken bouillon) and pepper of choice and serve.