Crockpot Recipe for Sausage, Beans, and Greens

This recipe doesn't look all that appetizing in the picture, but Jud and I both loved it.  If I was making it for myself, I would have used much less meat.  I am not the meat-eater that Jud is. That said, I really enjoyed the dish. I just ate less of it and tried to go heavy on the greens and beans in my serving.



Printable Recipe:
https://sites.google.com/site/whatscookingattheedwards/sausage-beans-and-kale-soup

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked dried beans of any type, soaked overnight (You could substitute 1 can of beans)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
4-5 links hot turkey or pork Italian Sausage (use turkey sausage for South Beach diet)
1-2 teaspoons oil, for browning sausage
1 bunch collard greens, cut into ribbons and washed ( I used Kale because I had use that for another dish.)
1/2 cup bean cooking liquid (or water plus liquid from canned beans if using canned)
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh garlic
(possibly more water if your crock pot is large) mine is so I used about 1 1/2 cups of water
Parmesan cheese for serving, if desired

Put beans in small saucepan with garlic powder, onion powder, and enough water to cover. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until beans are nearly done but still have a little bite. Drain, saving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. (Fresh cooked beans are by far better, but if you forget to soak some, use a can of kidney beans, white beans, or pinto beans and save 1/2 cup of water when you rinse them.)

While beans cook, brown sausage well in frying pan, adding a little olive oil for turkey sausage. The crock pot kind of removes the color from browned foods, so let them get very, very brown. When sausages are nicely browned, remove from pan, cool enough to handle, and cut into slices.

Cut stems off collard green, cut into ribbons crosswise, then cut the long ribbons into 2-3 pieces and rinse. Place collard greens in bottom of crock pot. Pour 1/2 cup bean cooking liquid into pan when you cooked the sausage,, add fresh garlic, and cook 2-3 minutes to deglaze the pan.  Put beans in crock pot, top with sausage, and pour deglazing liquid from pan over.

Cook on low 4-6 hours or on high 2-3 hours, or until collard greens are quite soft and flavors are well-combined. Serve hot, with Parmesan cheese if desired.  Since I am not on the South Beach Diet, I had a big piece of crusty bread. It was well worth the calories.