B E B E R E

The weather's definitely warming up, but still has an edge to it. It calls for soup, but not anything too heavy. Portuguese Kale Soup fits the bill nicely:

Caldo Verde

2 Tbs olive oil
3-4 large potatoes
2 cans cannelloni beans
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
11/2 lb kale
3/4 lb Portuguese sausage (can be chorizo, linguica - I prefer the hot varieties when I can find them. If you can't find Portuguese sausage, Polish smoked sausage works pretty well.)
8-10 c chicken broth

Chop the onion and garlic; slice potatoes thin. Sauté in olive oil. Slice sausage thinly and add to potatoes. Wash kale, remove leafy part from stems and discard stems. Shred leaves and add to potato/sausage mixture, sautéeing until kale turns bright green. Take sautéed ingredients and add to chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Serve with a green salad and some good, crusty bread (or traditional Portuguese corn bread) and butter.

This is a pretty good approximation of my friend Jo's soup. Hers is the first I tried and about the best I've ever had. Though a lot of the restaurants in the neighborhood make it, they aren't nearly as good as the homemade stuff.