I was just talking about the slave-like dependency I have on recipes in my kitchen. Tell me what to do! I need instruction and structure!
Except when it comes to one thing… soup. 
In the realm of soups, I’m the daddy.
This kale and sausage soup takes a bit of a trick I learned from Mark Bittman: using meat as a seasoning. So rather than using slices of precooked sausage, I used loose sausage meat. That way you get little meaty bits thoroughly mixed through the soup, giving a lot of flavor.
To do it:
-saute up the sausage meat (I used 3/4 lb mild italian) with a bit of olive oil over medium high heat. stir it well to get it nice and crumbly and let brown a bit.
-remove the meat with a slotted spoon and then dump in a finely diced onion and 2 or 3 cloves of crushed garlic.
-after the onions are soft, throw the meat back in and then add a bit of white wine and scrape up any fond from the bottom of your pot.
-add a carton of chicken broth.
-throw in your kale – destemmed and cut or ripped into small bits. Nobody wants long dangly bits of kale hanging off their spoons and flapping about on their chins. Good prep work is important if you’re a uptight little weasel like me.
-add other stuff. I included a can of cannelini beans, about a half cup (cooked) of forbidden rice, one grated zucchini, and an eighth of a head of cabbage thinly sliced. because of the amount of veg, we needed more broth to keep it soupy.
-salt. pepper. red pepper flakes.
Conjure up some nice chilliness and get cozy.
margaret edith 