Comfort food – lightened up! And better yet, your crock pot does all the hard work.

Easy to prep, beautiful to serve and delicious to eat. Enjoy!!

Ingredients: Feeds 6 – 8, great left over!

• cooking spray
• 4 cups low sodium chicken stock
• 1, 15oz can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
• 1, 15oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• pinch of red pepper flake
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 – 4 fresh basil leaves
• 1 bunch of Lacinto Kale, washed and chopped
• 1 lb chicken sausage sliced on a diagonal into 1in chunks
• chopped parsley as garnish
• loaf of Italian or other crusty bread

Directions:

1. Lightly coat your crockpot with cooking spray. Add the stock, tomatoes, beans, garlic, seasonings and fresh herbs and mix until combined.
2. Cover and set crockpot on LOW. Let cook for 4hrs then carefully remove the rosemary stems. Using a hand masher, mash half the beans to thicken the broth.
3. Add the chopped kale and cook 30 more minutes until it wilts down. Add the chunked sausage and cook another 30 minutes until warmed.
4. Serve stew atop a slice of toasty garlic or crusty bread and garnish with fresh parsley.

Comments:

This stew would be great made with spinach instead of kale (or any leafy green). I used flavored chicken sausage (Asiago and Spinach) or you could use traditional Italian pork sausage. Get cooking and make it your own!!