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Washington’s weather is moving along as expected for spring, warm for a week or two in the beginning to middle of May and then back to gray, cloudy, rainy days.  We are in the middle of the later right now, not much sun, but boy is it green!  It’s easy to complain and get depressed, by why do that?  Just rejoice that there’s a few more “soup days” before summer comes in full force…in July!

This is my latest soup creation.  Protein packed with Italian Chicken Sausage and Pinto Beans, plus veggies to round out the meal, a one dish dinner!  I used pre-cooked beans in this soup, but you could definitely use uncooked, the cooking time would just need to increase, as well as the amount of liquid.  I haven’t used chicken sausage very many times because I normally prefer pork, but I was impressed by Iserno’s Chicken Italian Sausage, it really added nice flavor to this soup.  That would be my one word of caution when making this, make sure you use good sausage!  It will make or break this soup, and I want you to love what you create in the kitchen.

  • 13 ounces (4 links) Italian Chicken Sausage, casings removed
  • 2-3 carrots, sliced
  • 1 yellow pepper, diced
  • 1 leek, white part only, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
  • 1/2 tsp. chili power
  • 1 tsp. dried parsley
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • 1 4 ounce can green chilies
  • 8 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cans (3 1/2 cups) pinto beans
  • salt and peper to taste
  • 3-4 handfuls of chopped kale

Pinto and Chicken Sausage Soup

Heat a stock pot over medium and add the sausage, carrots, pepper, and leek.  Cook until the sausage is no longer pink.  Add in the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds more.  Then stir in the chili powder, parsley, cumin, and green chilies.  Cook until the meat and veggies are coated with seasoning and the mixture is fragrant.  Add in the chicken stock and pinto beans.  Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer to let flavors mix, about 15 minutes.  Taste the soup and adjust salt and pepper as desired.  Stir in the kale and cover for 5 more minutes, or until kale is bright green and done to your liking.