Caldo Verde-ish

It's June 17th--what could be more perfect for an early summer dinner than...soup? On one of our first tours of the farm this season, Neil showed us all the different varieties of kale in the field. I had no idea there was more than one kind of kale! [Note from Susan: Isn't one enough?]Greens are always difficult for us--my mother didn't even cook spinach much when we were kids, so things like kale and chard are rather new to me. And Susan, well, Susan doesn't have a whole lot of "kitchen experience," if ya know what I mean!

When you mention kale, people usually start talking about Portuguese kale soup with sausage. I work with a gentleman from Portugal, so when I saw all the kale in the field, I immediately went to my co-worker and asked what I could do with it when it showed up in the share. He told me about caldo verde and talked about his mother and grandmother making it, especially after a long day out. He spoke very eloquently and fondly of watching as his mother and grandmother shared the preparation duties. I was sold!

Ok, ok, an apology to anyone of Portuguese decent. This is very much an adaptation of caldo verde! Susan will tell you that I am terrible that way. I change quantities, ingredients, add things, take things out--when it comes to cooking, free form is my style.

I started with this recipe, but...

-I didn't think I had enough kale, so I used the chard we received this week as well.

-I didn't use chorizo, I used pepper and onion turkey grillers from Bolton's Farm Market in Silverdale, because I already had them.

-I left out the onion, because I didn't have one!

-I added mushrooms, because...well, because I like mushrooms.

So, technically, this is NOT caldo verde, but boy is it delicious! I will definitely make this again! It was great that the weather cooperated and cooled down--no steamy pot of soup on the stove in hot weather, thankyouverymuch.

I took the soup to work for lunch the other day and shared it with my Portuguese friend--he seemed to enjoy it. He commented on the seasoning being very good, not too salty, and also mentioned that you could see the pureed potatoes thickening the broth. I was pretty pleased with his reaction, although, what was he going to say, right? Still, I'm going to call it a success!