Chicken Apple Sausage, Kale, and Rice Soup

hollygollygee's Note:

I had some leftovers in my fridge and needed to make a quick, nutritious lunch for my son who was not feeling well. I managed to get enough mileage from these ingredients for a family of four to eat lunch off of..woohoo! It was very yummy, soothing, healthful, economical, and low in Weight Watcher points (2 points per serving to be exact, 10 points for the whole pot)..double yay!

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 teaspoon coconut oil (or other oil)
• 1/2 onion, large
• 1 carrot, large
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons herbes de provence, dried
• 1 sausage, chicken apple (I used Aidell's from Costco)
• 4 -5 cups chicken broth
• 2 leaves kale, large
• 1/2 cup brown rice (cooked)
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

1. fincely dice the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic cloves. I actually put all of these veggies minus the celery in my Vitamix on the #4 variable setting (check the manual for further instructions) and it makes quick work of them. I cut the celery by hand though.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a soup pot over medium high heat.
3. Add the veggies to the oil and stir. Cook until veggies are softened.
4. Add herbs de provence, stir. Turn the heat down if necessary to prevent the veggies from over cooking.
5. Dice the sausage. I use precooked sausage. If yours is raw, you will need to cook it first (I think.I haven't made it with raw sausage). I cut the sausage lengthwise into 8 strips and then cut across to make a small dice. Add to the veggies and cook for a few minutes -- allowing the juices in the sausage to come out and permeate the mix.
6. Add 4-5 cups of chicken broth. I added a whole container of the boxed broth. Bring to a boil.
7. While waiting for the soup to boil, take the stalk out of the kale leaves and chop the leaves into small bits. Add to the boiling soup. Add the rice. Cover and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.