White Bean, Hominy and Kale Soup with Cumin and Smoked Sausage

Snow and notorious ominous warnings of a blizzard called Juno. The kind that makes me retreat further into the kitchen. A storm that started early in the day. Threatening to overtake the driveways and train tracks, made me leave work early by the afternoon. It is the kind that begs for a comforting soup. Like this White Bean, Hominy and Kale Soup.

Heading Home on a Snowy Day

I walked through the fifteen blocks, taking in the soft snow and found a middle spot in a very crowded train. All the talk of shutting down streets and railroads had made enough people nervous. Little did we know, that all of the predictions would not make their way into Westchester. The blizzard fairy wanted to be in Long Island instead. But, said the blizzard fairy, “You in Westchester will still have the benefits of a snow day, family time and an opportunity to build snowmen, if you so wish. And, if you are a foodie, you shall get your share of kitchen time!”

Soup’s On

With the gift of an early evening at home with the kids who promptly declared it a TV dinner evening. I worked through our closets to rustle up a homey one dish meal. A meal that would satisfy, father and son, mother and daughter alike. My version of the white bean and kale soup, a concoction that seems to be quite in vogue. For good measure I throw in smoky sausage, hominy and cumin. The cumin adds a deep rich flavor which also accentuates the overall smoky notes of the soup. The rest of the soup in terms of the vegetables really varies like the proverbial stone soup – sometimes turnips, sometimes carrots and sometimes both carrots and turnips.
In this case, I used an interesting smoky duck sausage that I had picked up from the farmers market in late fall, and had frozen it. But Trader Joe’s actually has a smoked chicken sausage with apple and chardonnay that also works. Essentially you do not want something that interferes too much with the clean notes of the soup.

I will with dried not canned beans for this and most of my other recipes, and will take a minute to actually emphasize something that has been on my mind since I saw this article. I am all for simplifying things, but with legumes soaking has more uses that we realize,
1. Soaking helps break down some of the complex sugars making the beans easier to digest.

1. In some cases, the texture is impacted, take the case of these vadas you want the white lentils to actually absorb the water and swell such that they are soft and need minimal water while processing. This cannot be done by simply grinding with extra water.
2. Lastly of course, while this is not related to soaking per say, why on earth would someone opt for an open cooking method when we have something as sensible as a pressure around to slice through time and energy.

Now, that I am off my soapbox, here is my recipe, which by the way improves significantly if served with grated cheese not that it is not already pretty good.

Another comforting soup working with similar flavors includes this chicken and hominy soup.

MAKING IT VEGETARIAN : REMOVE THE SAUSAGE AND USE VEGETABLE BROTH.