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.