Detox From The Valentine's Weekend Excesses...Sort Of - Portuguese Caldo Verde with Cannellini Beans

It's really hard to argue the dish is a detox dish when it's loaded with yummy sausage, but, hey! My dish, my rules! Picked up some nice Bob's Red Mill cannellini beans at the Cardiff Seaside Market last weekend, and thought fondly of Mel and Sheryl London, my favorite happy hippies who eat a lot of beans and grains and probably shag a lot.

This is what happy hippies who eat a lot of
beans and shag a lot look like.

This recipe is essentially a sausage, kale and potato soup. Very simple but oh so good. I modified this a bit by adding some smoked paprika, crushed red pepper and two kinds of sausage. Great on a rainy day (granted, a San Diego, 70 degree rainy day...ok, it's not really rainy. Just sort of drizzly. Close enough.) Eat with some garlic bread.

Mangia!

Portuguese Caldo Verde with Cannellini Beans

Adapted from The Versatile Grain and the Elegant Bean (The Happy Hippies Who Shag Often Book)

5 or 6 medium Red Potatoes (or about 1 ½ pounds), unpeeled, cut into eighths

1 large Sweet Spanish onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves; finely chopped
10 cups Chicken Stock

1/4 tsp Black Pepper; freshly ground

3/4 lb Garlic sausage such as linguica or kielbasa, cooked as directed below
3/4 lb smoked sausage, chopped
2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tbsp. smoked paprika

12 cup Trimmed and coarsely chopped kale or collards

1/4 cup olive oil

3 cup Cooked dried cannellini (1 1/2 cup dried)

3/4 tsp Salt or to taste

Preparation

Soak 1 cup beans overnight in cold water (you’ll need about 4 times the volume of water to beans) and drain and rinse, cover with tap water by 2 to 3 inches, bring to boil and reduce to simmer for 45 minutes. Drain and set aside. For a quicker method, put beans in a pot covered by hot tap water by 2 to 3 inches, bring to a boil, boil for 2 minutes, and remove pot from heat. Let soak for an hour, drain and rinse.

Pierce the linguica sausage, cover with water in a saucepan and bring to a boil Then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes to remove excess fat. Drain, discard the water, remove casing and chunk and reserve.

In a 7-quart Dutch oven, heat the oil, add the onions, garlic, crushed red pepper and smoked paprika and stir, sautéing for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and add the potatoes, stirring, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

While potatoes cook, heat a saute pan and brown the smoked sausage. Add to reserved linguica set aside.

Crush the potatoes lightly in the pot using a potato masher. Add the shredded greens and simmer for 15 minutes more. Add the cooked beans and reserved sausage and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot. The soup can be prepared a day or 2 in advance. Like most hearty soups or stews, the flavors intensify with time.