One summer at the Ranch (the cabin we share with relatives) I (Kate) couldn’t think what to make for dinner. A chic friend and her young son were staying with us, and I felt the pressure of wanting to feed them something they’d genuinely like but without easy access to great produce or spices to make some of the dishes I could have made at home. All of this was good, as I came to see. Because she made us dinner--the following soup--and it immediately became a vacation staple.

Susan received the recipe from the source of many of her favorite recipes--Lesleigh Cushing. Lesleigh is a good woman to heed on many counts, especially in the kitchen. Susan had made her own adjustments to the recipe, and the instructions below mostly reflect those. The vacation hack here is to use Italian-seasoned sausage, which adds so much flavor that you only need garlic, salt, and pepper to make a rich and wonderful soup. 

Kale, White Bean, and Italian Sausage Soup
Serves 4 to 6

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 package of uncooked Italian-seasoned chicken sausage, removed from casings if it has them

• 1 medium onion, sliced thin (about 1 1/2 cup's worth of sliced onions)

• 3 large garlic cloves, sliced thin

• 1/2 15-ounce can diced tomatoes 

• 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock

• 3 15-ounce can of white beans, rinsed and drained

• 1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

• 1 pound kale (1 large bunch), thick center ribs removed and leaves chopped

• 1 lemon

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat, then add the onion slices  and sauté until they become translucent and a little golden—at least 5 minutes; we do it for 10. Add the sausage and cook for 5 minutes more, or until no longer pink and cooked through, breaking it up with a spoon into bite-size pieces.  Add the garlic and sauté for thirty seconds. Then stir in the tomatoes and beans and sprinkle liberally with salt. 

Add the broth, stir, and bring just to a simmer. Then add the kale, and cook for a couple of minutes more, stirring, until the kale cooks down but before it fades to an army green. Add pepper and taste to see whether it needs more salt. Add more if it does! We like to squeeze lemon juice over each serving. Serve hot with good bread.