EVERYTHING (but the kitchen sink) SOUP

Holidays. A time for gathering with loved ones and stuffing our faces with anything and everything. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. And, also the most exhausting. Feeling run down and bloated, I resisted the overwhelming urge to order Blind Onion pizza and looked deep into my fridge for Paleo inspiration. Holy leftovers. “What am I going to do with all this?!”

Soup, that’s what.

I took out 3 jars of homemade beef broth, resisted the urge to drink the leftover red wine and set it aside for later use, dug around the fridge to find the remaining heavy whipping cream. BANG!! This was a good start for EVERYTHING (but the kitchen sink) SOUP.

I had some ground pork sausage kicking around from my last visit to Inspiration Plantation, along with a few strips of bacon. The curried cauliflower and broccoli I’d made earlier in the week needed to be used STAT or be tossed. Waste not, want not. To top it off, I had one lonely delicata squash, a handful of asparagus spears, a yellow onion that had seen better days and kale that was looking a lil’ limp. Into the pot they went.

To me, this is what cooking is all about — Using what you have to make something beautiful, nutritious and delicious. What kind of leftovers do you have lingering in your fridge? Mix and match, following this simple recipe to create your own pot of gold.

Makes 8 servings

GROCERY LIST

2 lbs ground pork sausage

1TBSP Italian seasoning

1TBSP crushed red pepper

3 strips bacon, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 delicata squash, halved, de-seeded and chopped

8 asparagus spears, chopped into bite sized pieces (Honestly, I didn’t care for these in this soup)

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 cup red wine

2 cups leftover pre-cooked cauliflower

9 cups beef broth

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Italian kale, chopped

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

1) In a large soup pot, over medium-high heat, brown sausage with red pepper and Italian seasoning. Remove from pan and set aside.

2) In the same pan, brown bacon for 2 minutes. Add onion, squash, asparagus and garlic. Cook 5 minutes, stirring often.

3) Add wine to soup pot and let boil for 1 minute, this will cook out all the alcohol. Add leftover (pre-cooked) cauliflower and sausage, stir. Pour beef broth into soup pot, bring to a boil, boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in heavy whipping cream.

4) To serve, lay a handful of kale into a large soup bowl. Add soup and let stand 3 minutes before serving, allowing the kale to soften.

From my kitchen, to yours ….. be creative, be resourceful and ENJOY!!