Potato Kale Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 cups kale
3 slices turkey bacon
10 ounces Italian sausage or 10 ounces ground turkey
1/2 cup onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
5 large russet potatoes, unpeeled cubed
46 ounces sodium-free chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons half-and-half (optional)

Preparation

Wash and dry kale.
Microwave bacon until crisp, set aside until end.
In Dutch oven, saute sausage and onion until sausage is brown, remove grease.
Add garlic, potatoes, stock, fennel, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, bring to low boil, cover, and cook until potatoes are done, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, remove ribs of kale and chop.
Lower burner to low, remove with slotted spoon about 2 cups potatoes, roughly mash with fork, and stir back into pan.
Stir in chopped kale, simmer about 4 minutes-- we like kale a bit chewy.
Add half and half.
Stir in crumbled bacon, serve.
NOTE: If freezing, hold off on half and half, add later. You can also put hot soup into bowl and add a tablespoon at a time of the half and half to each bowl. Haven't tried yet in crockpot but assume it would work fine.