What's For Dinner?

Yellow Split Pea, Kale and Sausage Stew

2 cups of yellow split peas, soaked overnight and rinsed
1 onion, peeled and chopped into about 1/4 inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons dried basil
I bunch of kale, washed, tough stems cut off and coarsely chopped
2 large tomatoes, washed and chopped into chunks
3/4 pound of mild Italian sausage
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons sea salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

*Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat, When hot (though not smoking) add onion and cook until just starting to soften (make sure you stir during this process).

*Add garlic and cook one minute. Then add the yellow split peas, 8 cups of water, and the dried basil and cumin. Bring to a simmer and cook covered for about 30-40 minutes, until the yellow split peas are soft (but not mushy).

*Add the kale and tomatoes and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the kale is soft. Meanwhile, fry up your sausage in a saucepan over med-high heat, stirring the meat and breaking up clumps, until cooked all the way through.

*Add the sausage and vinegar and add about 2 teaspoons of sea salt and one teaspoon of pepper and adjust to taste.

How yummy does this sound on a blizzardy December day? I stole this from another site and will cook it up tonight! Today we are having a crazy amount of SNOW. They are predicting up to 28 inches by tomorrow morning. I'm waiting to post pictures until we have our grand total, so you can see the ginormous amount of white stuff we will be shoveling our way out of. I love days like this, as it feels so Christmasy out and it's such fun to just stay home and put on the Carpenters and make ginger bread houses and soup and watch the fire and the twinkling lights on the tree. Oh, so cozy!!