I’m still mourning the end of my beautiful, lovely, first year of my CSA. My last pickup was about a month ago. Although, somehow, my fridge is still overflowing with vegetables.

I’ve got bundles and bundles of chard, kale, and carrots. Pretty yellow carrots which, I might add, I am having a hard time eating just because they are so pretty. It's a problem of mine, see here.

The escarole and beans in this soup below were from my farm share. I’d never encountered the beans previously. Although, now I have been spotting those pretty pink thangs all over the farmer’s market. If you can’t find the beans or the escarole at the greenmarket, just sub in another leafy green, like kale or chard and some dried or canned cannellini beans

In New York, it is going to be GROSS and rainy this weekend. While I am staunchly pro-sunshine --- cold, rainy, winter weekends do give me a nice excuse to catch up on several episodes of The Wire and get all sorts of cuddly with the boy and the cat, because obviously I am also staunchly pro-snuggling.

A warm bowl of soup really rounds out the picture, don’t you think?

Escarole Sausage Soup with Cranberry Beans

Ingredients:

1 pound hot italian sausage, squeezed from casing

dash of olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

approx. 2 cups shelled cranberry beans (can substitute dried or canned cannellini beans if desired)

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon paprika

1 bay leaf

1 head escarole, torn into bite sized pieces (can also use any other winter leafy green - they may need more cooking time however.)

shredded parmesan for garnish (if desired)

Directions:

In a large pot over medium heat brown sausage until no longer pink. Scoop sausage onto a plate and set aside. Add a dash of olive oil to the sausage fat and then add the chopped onions. Scrape up the brown bits from the sausage while stirring the onions, coating them in fat. Saute onions until soft and translucent. Add garlic to onions and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the sausage back in, along with beans. Lastly, add in the broth and water. Season with salt, pepper, oregano, paprika, and bay leaf.

Bring soup to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cook until beans are soft and creamy, about 45 minutes. If you substitute canned beans, they will only need about 15 minutes to warm through. Stir in escarole and let wilt into soup, approximately 5 minutes. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Serve with grated parmesan on top, if desired.

Yield: approximately 8 cups