White Bean Soup With Andouille and Collards

HERE is the recipe on the Real Simple site.

My husband really liked this soup.


Serves 6
Hands-on Time: 10m
Total Time: 8hr 00m

Ingredients

* 1 pound dried white beans (such as cannellini or great Northern)
* 1/2 pound andouille sausage links, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 2 stalks celery, chopped
* 4 sprigs fresh thyme
* 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
* 1 bunch collard greens, stems discarded and leaves cut into bite-size pieces (about 8 cups) (We put in some kale too)
* 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
* kosher salt and black pepper
* olive oil and bread sticks, for serving

Directions

1. In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the beans, sausage, onion, celery, and thyme. Add the broth and stir to combine.

2. Cover and cook until the beans are tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours (this will shorten total cooking time). (I would say cook it the full 8 hours so the beans are really done. Ours were a done but a little tough after 4 hours.)

3. Twenty minutes before serving, discard the thyme stems, add the collard greens, cover, and cook until the greens are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the vinegar and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

4. Drizzle with the olive oil and serve with the bread sticks.

Chorizo and potato tacos with black bean salsa

This is from Real Simple October 2010.

1 pound fresh chorizo or Italian sausage, casings removed (Super Saver sells chorizo in 1 lb bags by the deli section)
1 russet potato (8 oz), cut into 1/4-inch pieces (really, four potatoes is better)
1 15oz can black beans, rinsed
4 radishes, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 T fresh lime juice
1 T. olive oil
1/2 t ground cumin
Kosher salt and black pepper
8 hard taco shells, warmed
1 avocado, sliced
1/4 cup sour cream

In a large nonstick skillet, cook the chorizo and potato over medium-high heat, breaking up the chorizo with a spoon, until it is browned and the potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the beans, radishes, cilantro, lime juice, oil, cumin, 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t pepper.

Fill the taco shells with the chorizo mixture, black bean salsa, avocado, and sour cream.

*Honestly, we did not make the salsa. I had a black bean salsa in the pantry to use. We put the chorizo potato filling topped with rinsed black beans, salsa, sour cream and cheddar cheese. They were really good.

Super Stuffed French Bread Pizza Rustica

1 (2 foot long) loaf French bread
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 package frozen chopped spinach defrosted and squeezed dry
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups part skim ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 pound sweet sopressata, from the deli, sliced thick, chopped
1/2 stick pepperoni, chopped
1 sack (10 ounces) shredded mozzarella
1 sack (10 ounces) shredded provolone
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Split bread lengthwise and hollow it out. Cut in half across, making 4 shells for pizzas.

Heat a skillet over medium high flame and brown sausage in
extra-virgin olive oil. Brown and crumble sausage. Add red bell
pepper, onion and garlic. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, add spinach. Remove mixture from heat and season with a pinch of salt and black pepper, to your taste.

Transfer to a bowl. Combine sausage and veggies with ricotta,
Parmesan, sopressata and pepperoni. Fill bread shells and top with
mounded mozzarella and provolone cheeses. Place in hot oven on cookie sheet and bake until cheese melts and bubbles and bread is super crisp, about 10 to 12 minutes. Top pizzas with oregano and hot pepper flakes. Serve immediately, or snack all night!

Zuppa Toscana

1 mild Italian sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
3 slices of bacon, trimmed of excess fat and cut into ½" pieces
6 cups chicken stock
8 cups unpeeled potatoes, cut in approx. ¾" dice
½ tsp fennel seed
½ cup kale, coarsely chopped and packed, or 1 cup loose

1. Remove sausage from casing and brown in large pot, breaking up large pieces as it cooks. When sausage is thoroughly cooked and slightly brown, remove it from pot and drain off all the fat.
2. Add onion and bacon to same pot. Stir and cook until the bacon begins to brown and the onions soften.
3. Add chicken stock and potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are very done.
4. Take about 2-3 cups of potatoes and stock from the pot and puree in a blender. Add back to pot along with the sausage, fennel seed and kale and simmer about 5-10 minutes.
5. Salt to taste. Let it sit a few minutes before serving. Garnish with some grated Romano cheese on top.