Kale Soup with Sausage and Chickpeas

This is my first attempt at making Kale Soup and I was surprised at how easy and versatile this dish can be.  My initial fear was that the tomatoes would come out too chunky and overpower the rest of the soup but they cooked down to be tender and delicious.  The original recipe is from Kalyn's Kitchen and I only did slight modifications. Its worked out great too cause I had enough of the ingredients to make this soup again a couple of days later...and trust me it was wanted again!
This was a great lunch, I went for seconds and Jeff went for thirds!

Kale Soup with Sausage and Chickpeas

Ingredients:

• 1-2 tsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp dried rosemary (if using dry kinda crush the big pieces)
• 2 tsp fresh sage or 3/4 tsp dried sage
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups chopped sausage links (I found a wonderful Italian seasoned Chicken sausage)
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 (14.5 oz) can of diced tomatoes (no salt added preferred)
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce (save the rest of the can for spaghetti later)
• 1/2 tsp seasoning blend, like Mrs Dash (optional)
• 1 small bunch of Kale
• 1 (15 oz) can of Chickpeas (Garbanzos)
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• sprinkle of Parmesan cheese for serving (optional)

1. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in heavy frying pan over medium heat.  Add chopped onion and saute for 3-4 minutes until onions are soft (not browned).

2. Lower heat a little and add minced garlic, rosemary, and sage and saute 2-3 minutes more.  Pour mixture into large soup pot with chicken stock and start to simmer.

3. Return frying pan back to medium heat and add sausage, cooking till browned. Add to soup pot.

4. Add to soup pot canned tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, black pepper, and seasoning blend. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes over low heat.

5. While soup simmers wash kale and cut into bite sized pieces.  Drain chickpeas in colander and rinse very well, removing any loose shells.

5. After soup simmers for 30 minutes add kale and chickpeas and simmer for 45 minutes more until kale is completely softened.  Serve hot with grated parmesan.