Greasy Sae Soup

Last year a group of friends and I started a supper club based on the principles of Iron Chef.  Every Tuesday we would get together to watch Chopped on Food Network.  (Can you tell we love food, love to eat, and love to read/watch things about eating?)  There would either be a theme or ingredient that everyone had to incorporate into their dish.

It was great for us because most of us were recent college graduates and almost no idea what we were doing in the kitchen.  It also fueled our creativity and forced us to think outside of the culinary box week after week.

Around the time the Hunger Games was released into theatres, we are all huge fans, we decided to have a Hunger Games themed supper club.  Everyone brought amazing dishes to the table, it was one of our most successful nights. 

My contribution was Greasy Sae Soup.  It's not really called Greasy Sae Soup, the original recipe comes from My Recipes and is a Tuscan Kale, White Bean, and Ciabatta Soup.  The first time I made this recipe I went straight by the book.  I saw some ways I could improve upon it for my own tastes. 

Since that first supper club I have made this several times.  It is so easy, and so delicious.  As everything simmers together there is a wonderful earthy taste and texture that gets going.  I always think I'll have enough to freeze, never happens!  It's so good I end up eating the whole pot in just a few days. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

And so, I present to you:

Greasy Sae Soup

Ingredients

1 can white beans, drained
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms (I use cremini mushrooms, but feel free to choose whatever you prefer)
2-2 1/2 qts veggie broth
10 garlic cloves, minced
10 fresh sage leaves
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 bunches kale, rinsed chopped
1 tblsp fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tsp capers
1 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Place broth, beans, garlic, salt, pepper, garlic cloves, sage, and chili flakes into a stock pot.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat.

2. Add the mushrooms and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. After the 20 minutes have passed, add the capers and kale.  Add the kale a handful at a time.  If you put both bunches in at once it will be quite overwhelming and you won't be able to stir it at all.  Once you've placed a handful of kale in the pot, spoon the broth over the kale to begin to wilt it.  As the kale wilts it will get smaller and you can continue to add more and more. Once kale has all been added, simmer for another 15-20 minutes.  The second simmer is to get the kale wilted down to a size and texture you like.

4. Once the kale has wilted down as far as you would like it to go, turn off the heat and serve!  You can add more salt and pepper at this point to suit your taste level.  You can also add either Parmesan cheese or feta to each individual serving dish.  I don't (I'm trying to stay as vegan as possible with my home cooking) and I don't miss it at all; but do as you wish!

This soup is served best hot with some crusty bread on the side.  As you can see from the picture, I didn't have any crusty bread, toast had to do.  Such a lovely end to a rainy and dreary day!