The day I decided to make this, I had a pack of sweet Italian turkey sausages thawed and ready to go from the night before. We ended up going over to my parents that night, so I had to use it or it would end up as trash. I hate to waste food, and since I had gone grocery shopping the day before to stock up on some staples, I had plenty of vegetables to use up. It was so easy to prep and prepare, and I love that I went out and came home to a dinner ready to eat!
A while back, I heard about wheatberries and its many benefits. Since Gary started liking quinoa, I decided to make a hearty soup using this other superfood. Since this is packed with protein and fiber, it's a great addition to this soup. It had a nice texture and blended in nicely. Although I thought it was just enough, Gary wanted to add even more wheatberries next time around.
Once again, Branny Boils Over is hosting a Souperbowl, and all soup entries each earn $1 to the ASPCA. Hurry up and make a soup recipe and send it over! The deadline is 1/31/12!
This year I'm dedicating my recipe to Matt. This little guy was found wandering around and causing traffic on the freeway until Gary's sister found him and brought him in. Check out the crazy before and after and what a little TLC does!
After a few weeks, nobody claimed him and he had nowhere to go. My sister in law already had 2 dogs, one which is a shih tzu as well. Luckily, Gary's other sister and her family came to the rescue and took him in. They named him Matt, because his hair was so matted when they first found him. He's great with the kids, and very protective of the family.
a cathy's kitchen journey original recipe
ingredients:
directions:
ingredients:
- 3 TBSP olive oil, divided
- 1.25 lb sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 small bay leaves
- 3/4 cup wheatberries, rinsed and drained (to sub rice or quinoa, add during the last hour of cooking)
- 4 cups water
directions:
- In a hot skillet on medium-high heat, add 2 TBSP oil. Crumble and brown the sausage until no longer pink in the middle. Drain the fat and transfer to a 3-4qt crockpot. In the same skillet, add the remaining 1 TBSP oil, and sweat out the onions. Remove from heat and transfer onions to crockpot.
- Combine the rest of the ingredients into the crockpot and stir slightly.
- Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until wheatberries are cooked through.
- Remove bay leaves, stir well to mix evenly, then serve.
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I love Matt's face! Thanks for participating.
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