RGB Garden Chard
When I think about college, I often think about 146 Esplanade; the place where I became an adult. It was during this time in my life that I was also addicted to study breaks at The Olive Garden. My druge of choice: bread sticks and zuppa toscana. I had to have it. all. the. time. Sometime during my fourth or fifth collegiate year, I decided I needed to figure out how to make it at home, because I was running out of friends to eat out with.
Fast forward a few years. Over breakfast one winter morning, Barry and I looked out the window and agreed it would be nice to have some flowers and veggies. For Christmas that year, I received a bunch of bulbs in brown paper bags. On New Years’ Eve, we planted them. That winter, we also planted a whole bunch of vegetables. Among them, the mighty Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla).
The stuff was so easy to grow that it has been a staple in the vegetable box ever since. Most of the time, we simply steam, salt, pepper and squirt with lemon juice as a week-night side dish to chicken or fish. When that that’s not enough to eat through our tremendous supply, we try to creative with where to put it so it doesn’t go to waste.
Recently, I thought, “hey, maybe I should put this into my zuppa toscana recipe!” Crazy; it worked like a charm and we haven’t purchased kale since. I suspect that spinach or beet greens would work equally as well.
And you know what? Nowadays, my favorite place to enjoy this soup is right in the backyard; if it’s the right time of year, I can see little paperwhites and Dutch irises from those first Christmas bulbs.
[K]
Have your taste buds changed over time? What do you enjoy now as much as you did then?
Zuppa Toscana, May 2011.
Zuppa Toscana, November 2009.
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~ Serves ~
4-6
~ Ingredients ~
- 12 oz. (3 links) spicy Italian sausage (chicken / pork / beef), casing removed
- 1 tsp. crushed red peppers
- 1 medium brown onion
- 4 strips bacon, cut in half
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 ½ quarts (10 cups) chicken broth
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed clean
- 2 oz. (4 cups) chard, beet greens, kale or spinach
- Romano cheese, to grate
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Lemon slices for garnishing
~ Preparation ~
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
- In a 4-quart casserole pot, cook sausage over medium heat. Be careful not to burn the pan.
- While the sausage is cooking, dice the onion and mince the garlic cloves.
- When the sausage is cooked (5-7 minutes), remove with slotted spoon and set aside in small bowl.
- Using the sausage fat, cook the bacon in two batches.
- While the bacon is cooking, halve the potatoes length-wise, and then chop to ¼-inch thickness.
- Once bacon is cooked, set aside on paper towel to cool.
- Discard all but approx. 1 tbsp. of bacon grease from pot. Then, over medium heat, sauté onion, garlic and crushed red peppers for 5 minutes in same pot.
- Add in chicken broth and potatoes, and set to low boil for 15 minutes.
- While the soup is cooking, tear bacon and greens into small bits to maintain that rustic look of the soup. (If using chard, tear leaves into pieces about the size of a business card; discard the stem.)
- After 15 minutes, add the sausage and bacon back in; cook 5 more minutes. As you do this, you’ll notice some grease floating to the top. With a ladle, skim off the fat and discard.
- Add in leafy greens; cook for 3 minutes.
- If desired, add in cream; serve immediately with grate of Romano cheese. Makes 6 1-cup side servings or 4 full-meal servings.
Source: Rustic Garden Bistro
Nutrition content per side serving: 293 calories, 25g carbs, 11g protein, 14g fat, 2g fiber
Cost per side serving: $ 2.96
Hello, friends!
