Welcome! How are you today? Glad to have you here at 3SS!! I am excited to share this post with you today! This Cajun style andouille, kale, and barley stew is going to knock your socks off! Your bowl will quickly find itself empty and without a drop leftover…this stew is amazing. There are so many different textures and the spiciness of the sausage gives the stew great flavor.
Soups and stews are great, in my opinion, during the fall and winter months. They warm you up quickly and can provide you with a lot of nutrients. It isn’t everyday I can convince my husband to eat kale, but his bowl of stew was gone so fast you would not have even known kale was an ingredient. Kale is packed with nutrition. It is a nutrition powerhouse. Kale is high in Vitamins A, C, and K. Adding kale to soups is a great way to tame down the bitterness of the vegetable.
Daylight savings time has come to an end. How ’bout that extra hour of sleep, eh?! I am pretty sure here it was an extra hour of trying to tame my 3 kiddos down in this hotel room. I feel so sorry for whomever is below us. There is endless running, spinning, jumping, and screaming going on in our room. I am actually amazed we have not received a call about the amount of noise our kids let out. As a little getaway, we decided to make a trip to my parent’s cabin over the weekend for some much-needed outdoor time, relaxation (ha! ha!), and great food! I must say it is amazing that we haven’t just eaten at McDonald’s and Runza night after night. It is tempting once in a while though. If it weren’t for me, I think my husband would actually go for that. I like to think that I am in charge of what we eat…most of the time anyway. 😉
A day at the cabin. In the Fall. Must have soup.
Why Andouille sausage, kale, and barley stew? Because why not?
I used Cajun style andouille sausage to give the stew a bit of a kick, but you wouldn’t have to use spicy sausage. I just thought it really completed the meal.
Time Out…picture time!! 🙂
It is not an easy task to take a picture of a 2, 3, and 4-year-old and get all three of them to smile for more than a half a second. But I will take what I can get! I will remember these weekend cabin days forever. It is so peaceful and relaxing…besides the constant head count of my kids making sure they are far enough away from the river. I mean let’s get real…there is not a lot of relaxation at our house unless it is the middle of the night and I am sleeping. And that isn’t always a guarantee.
Try this soup out because you will enjoy it!! This recipe was adapted from Williams Sonoma.
Cajun Style Andouille, Kale, and Barley Stew
Ingredients
- 1 lb cajun style andouille sausage
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup quick cooking barley
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups kale stemmed and chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- COOK BARLEY-Pour water into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add barley with a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook barley for 10-12 minutes and drain. Set aside for later use.
- COOK SAUSAGE- In a dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium-high heat. Add sausage and brown each side for a total of about 7 minutes. Transfer sausage to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.
- MIX STEW INGREDIENTS- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, onion, and garlic to the dutch oven. Saute for about 4 minutes. Slice sausage links and return them to the dutch oven. Cook for about another 5 minutes or until sausage is thoroughly cooked. Add can of tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring contents to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the barley and kale and cook until kale just starts to wilt. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
- Serve and enjoy!