Vegan Zuppa Toscana Soup

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In an effort to entice my omnivorous husband's palate, I'm trying to make more dishes that have his specific taste buds in mind.

I admit, it's kinda hard. Don't get me wrong. Ever polite and encouraging, he's thankful for a cooked meal. But he doesn't do backflips for certain foods, say, anything cooked with mushrooms, squash, sweet potatoes, cabbage (both purple and green), onions that are too big (he'll eat them if cooked and chopped a certain way), eggplant, zucchini, hmmm, did I forget anything? I think those are the big ones. Basically all of the foods that are in season right now.

In his defense, lest it sound like I'm picking on him, he does love a variety of other very healthful plant foods and could eat them day in and day out (oatmeal, beans, rice, strawberries, and oranges, for example).

As much as I love mushrooms and squash, I love my husband more, and want dinnertime to be a pleasant experience, so I've learned to focus on foods that we both love.

One of his favorite soups, Zuppa Toscana, is from the Olive Garden and is not exactly vegan friendly. The original recipe calls for 1 cup heavy cream, one pound of sausage, a half pound of bacon, 3 cups chicken broth... Nonetheless, I wanted to make a veganized version of the soup for him. More like I looked at the recipe to derive inspiration. Because my version hardly resembles the original. The taste is similar, but contains much less fat and no animals.

I've never tried Tofurky, but a client of mine raved about it. She cooks it when she has guests over and apparently no one complains! I don't rely on meat substitutes very often, but thought it would be perfect for this soup, and if my husband would eat it AND like it, well then, it would pass the test.
This sausage is still high in fat, but contains half of the fat of regular sausage. It comes in a variety of flavors, for this soup I used the sun dried tomato (not deliberately though, I think original might be better, because the taste is more neutral, better for this type of soup).

Vegan Zuppa Toscana Soup

Serves 6-8

Perhaps it's a stretch to call this zuppa toscana soup. Maybe it ought to be called: White bean, kale, and tofurky soup? Nah, too wordy and definitely not as cool as zuppa toscana. But, who am I to tell you what to do? Call it whatever you want and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 c. (1 antesceptic box) vegetable broth
• 3 russet potatoes, peeled, cubed
• 1, 14 oz. package Tofurky Italian sausage
• 2-3 c. chopped kale
• 3 c. plain, unsweetened plant milk (I used almond milk, but soy would also work well here)
• 1, 15 oz. can white northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 TBS. nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp. liquid smoke
• salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

To make:

On medium heat, in large stockpot, cook onions for about 5 minutes. Add 1 TBS. of broth if the onions are sticking. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add vegetable broth, potatoes and cook on medium high heat for about 20 minutes or until tender. In the meantime, slice sausage into 1/4 inch rounds, and cook in a non-stick or cast iron frying pan over medium high until browned. Once potatoes are cooked, add kale, milk, liquid smoke, nutritional yeast, and white beans. Simmer for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add tofurky sausage and stir until combined. Salt and pepper to taste.