Sausage, Potato, White Bean Soup

I had some leftover Italian sausage and when this recipe popped up in an email I thought what the heck, let's try it. Hmmm did I love this one? Notttttt really. The flavor is good, and I love all the ingredients - so what went wrong? One word - kale. As in WAY too much of it, and I didn't chop the over-abundance of kale into small enough pieces so it wasn't very easy to eat. My bad - I should have realized 10-12 cups of kale is a.lot.of.kale! So, all in all, would I make this again? Absolutely - it's simple, comes together quickly, and really does taste good - just listen to my words and use less kale that is chopped up in little pieces.  

Here's the original recipe, with my notes:

• 2 T. olive oil
• 8 ounces bulk Italian sausage (or remove the casing from links)
• 2 cups chopped onion (about 2 cups. I did 1/2 cup thinking maybe Dave might eat this but he didn't)
• 1 t. dried oregano
• 1 t. fennel seeds
• salt and pepper
• 2 Yukon gold potatoes (1 lb), cut into 1" pieces
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (15oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 large bunch kale, stemmed and torn into pieces (about 10-12 cups - see my note above!)
• 2 T. red wine vinegar
• grated parmesan cheese

1. Heat oil in an 8-quart stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high. Add sausage and break it up with a wooden spoon into bite-size pieces. Let sausage pieces cook without stirring until brown on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs, flip sausage pieces over and leave them until cooked through and golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes more.
2. Transfer sausage to a plate lined with paper towels, leaving the fat and oil behind in the pan. Cover sausage with aluminum foil to keep in any moisture; set aside.
3. Return pot to medium and add onions, oregano, fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent and soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Add potatoes, stock, and, if desired, bay leaf. Cover and bring to boiling over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are fork-tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Stir in beans, kale, and reserved sausage. Cook until beans are heated through. Fish out bay leaf, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve with a pile of freshly grated cheese on top.

Per Serving:

457 calories; total fat 18g; saturated fat 5g; polyunsaturated fat 3g; monounsaturated fat 10g; cholesterol 36mg; sodium 1048mg; carbohydrates 50g; fiber 9g; sugar 10g; protein 24g; 

 recipe found here