White Bean Stew with Kielbasa & Kale

Yes, soup when it's hot outside. Sometimes I just can't help it. I love soup. I saw a beautiful bunch of kale at the store the other day and brought it home. Then I had to decide what I wanted to do with it. I had everything needed to make this quick stove top soup. Feel free to use any white beans you have (if you have time and dried beans they would be awesome.) You could also throw all the ingredients except for the kielbasa in the crockpot. I like to cook vegan sausages in a skillet to get a little brown and texture to them and just add a few slices to each bowl of soup. I even keep them separate when I store the leftovers. Just toss the sausage coins in a container/baggie and then when you reheat add them at the beginning. I find that they lose their texture if they are stored in a soupy dish. Head over to the Virtual Vegan Potluck to check out my recipe and many others.

• 1 can great northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can navy beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
• 6 cups no-chicken chicken stock
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes including the juice
• 1 package Tofurky Spinach Pesto sausage, cut into coins or half-moon slices
• 1/2 bunch or about 4 cups fresh kale, coarsely chopped

Sweat the onions and garlic in 1/4 cup water until tenter in a large soup pot.

Add all the other soup ingredients EXCEPT for the sausage to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown the sausage in a small amount of oil in a nonstick skillet.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with the browned sausage.

Enjoy!