Beans + ham soup - can I add some frozen kale?

[Anonymous]

I decided to defrost my NY eve honey baked ham and use the bone to make beans and ham soup. I have some frozen kale from TJ and was wondering if I could add that, so I have some veggie on it.

I *know* I can add whatever I want but do you think it would taste good? If yes, at what point should I add the kale?

tia!

[Anonymous]

I use kale in a bean and sausage soup and its delicious. I would sauté an onion in olive oil, then cook the kale in the onion/oil mixture. Add the for the last 2 hours of cooking time to the beans and ham.

[Anonymous]

Kale goes great in bean soups

[Anonymous]

yum.

[Anonymous]

Yes!

[Anonymous]

... Also add garlic to the sauté before you add the kale. Let the kale cook down; cover and cook on low.

[Anonymous]

I frequently add kale to soups, and the kids like it---or at least they eat it without complaint. Tonight I did a Thai curry & shrimp soup and tossed some kale in at the end, and everyone loved it. The trick is to cut it up into pretty small pieces.

[Anonymous]

I throw kale into everything - soup, stir fry, stew, casseroles, you name it. Love kale.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely.

I'd use some kind of white bean. You could do it in any bean soup and it would work, but I think the color and the flavor of the kale go better with the lighter and more mildly flavored beans.

[Anonymous]

P.S. I add it near the end. I don't like the kale to be completely limp and falling apart. So if I'm cooking the beans from dried/soaked, and they're in there for an hour or more with the ham bone, I put the kale in for about the last 15 minutes (already chopped or hand-shredded to bite-size).

[Anonymous]

Just saw that your kale is frozen. For that, I'd probably put it in in the last 5 or 10 minutes. It's already soft, it just needs to be heated through.

[Anonymous]

Kale texture can get rubbery. I'd bake it in the oven first and then crumble it and sprinkle it into the soup once it's done.

[Anonymous]

Chop an onion, about 3 carrots and 3 stalks of celery. Saute in a little olive oil for about 6 minutes, then add about 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped. After a couple minutes, add your ham (or sausage), chopped. After 10 minutes or so, add seasoning salt, crushed red pepper, thyme, a bit of oregano and/or basil, 2 bay leaves, and black pepper. Add chicken broth and cook for about 20 minutes to half an hour. Add two cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed, and as much chopped kale as you like. Cover and cook for another 20 minutes to half an hour. Enjoy!