March Madness

Last summer we purchased our March Madness NCAA tickets for the first two opening rounds and since then I've been way excited for the games to start.  Well last week they were finally here!  We found out in February that we were in the lower bowl on the 7th row.  They were awesome tickets, except for the fact that they were directly behind the basket stand.  But we were able to manage through the games :)

Cooking

I love cooking and trying out new recipes.  I'm not one to just make up new recipes, but I do make my own changes to ones I try out.  Each time I'm trying out a new recipe, I wish that someone had told me little secrets or tips about the recipe.  Soooo I'm going to post new recipes I try out along with my variations and hopefully someone out there will appreciate that I endured the torture that accompanies trying a new recipe and that I posted my new found secrets. 

Enjoy!

Caldo Verde

Today I made Caldo Verde, which is surprisingly similar to the Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden, but not as creamy.  It's a weight watchers recipe, but I think if I add some light whipping cream it could still be low-fat and deliciousness at the same time.

Here is the recipe:

1 spray nonstick cooking spray
1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 oz turkey sausage, cut into 1/2 thick rounds
4 cups chicken broth
1 medium baking potato, about 8 oz, peeled

4 cups stemmed and shredded kale

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 dashes hot red pepper sauce

Instructions:
1. Spray a large saucepan with nonstick spray; set over medium heat.  Add the onion; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 20 seconds.
2. Add the sausage; cook, stirring often, until browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Pour in broth; bring to a simmer, stirring often.

4. Using the small holes of a box grater, grate the potato into the stew.  Stir well while returning to a simmer.  Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring a couple times.

5. Stir in the kale; cover and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender, about 12 minutes.  Stir in the salt, pepper, and hot red pepper sauce before serving.

Nutrition:
Serving Size:  1 1/2 cups
4 Points per serving.

Variations:
*Onions: I used frozen chopped onions.  I always have some on hand.  Much more convenient than fresh onions, and they aren't that bad.
*Sausage:  I bought the Jennie-O turkey sausage.  You couldn't really cut it into 1/2" thick rounds.  So I cut what I could and then cut that in half.  It was more "chunk like" than anything else.
*Broth:  A carton of broth is 4 1/2 cups, so I used all of it.
*Potato: I definitely used 2 medium/large potatoes.  And I didn't grate them, I cut the potato length wise, twice.  Then sliced it thin enough to cook quickly, which was about 1/8" thick.
*Kale:  A "bale" of kale was more than enough for the recipe.

*Hot red pepper sauce:  I don't like my food to be spicy, since I have acid reflux.  But James added Cajun seasoning to his bowl and it tasted ok. 

*I did not use a saucepan for the whole recipe.  It definitely would not have fit everything.  I put the broth into a pot and cooked it for a little while before adding the sausage/onions/garlic mixture.    That worked out a lot better. 
*Obviously I topped it off with some parm cheese.