Caldo Gallego

Caldo Gallego is one of my favorite soups, and I make it at least once a month, 9 months a year. I pretty much use any kind of greens I have—this time it was radish greens and finally shredded kale since there weren’t enough of the radish greens. Here are the ingredients I used:

2 thick slices of bacon cut into ½ inch pieces, or use pancetta if you have it

¾ cup dried white beans (I used great northern, but canned beans also work)

2 medium Yukon gold potatoes (Idaho works too), cut into ½ inch dice

1 large white turnip, ½ inch dice

6-8 ounces chorizo sliced ¼ inch thick (I used pre-cooked, fresh better)

about 6 ounces chopped greens (turnip traditional)

water or chicken stock as needed.

Cook the beans with water to cover by about 2 inches, time will depend on how fresh the beans are. Mine were old, so I had to add more water and they probably cooked for nearly 2 hours! While beans are cooking, cook the bacon until almost done and then add the chopped onion. Cook until onion softens and then add potatoes and turnip. At this point, I added the beans and their liquid to the pot to finish cooking, but wait if using canned beans or if your beans are already soft. Add about 2 cups of water and/or broth.

Cook the vegetables for about 20-25 minutes and then add the chorizo and chopped greens (and canned beans if using). Add more water or broth if needed and cook until the greens are tender—kale takes a bit longer than others.

Can you make this vegan or vegetarian? Maybe, though the bacon and chorizo add most of the flavor! But you might try one of the Beyond Meat hot sausages, and add some additional hot pepper. And maybe bacon bits? It might work...