Portuguese Cuisine, Healthy and Nutritious

A traditional kale soup recipe you can cook in your own home

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Portugal is a superb location to really push the boat out and dive into the national food.

Don't worry if you don't enjoy great food first thing in the day though, the portuguese often skip breakfast , in general deciding to have a coffee and a bread roll. In fact you will often see locals enjoying a quick snack in a cafe just before nipping into work.

Lunchtime and Evenings are a quite different and greatly entertaining experience.

The locals relish their food, and you can expect to be offered large portions when eating in restaurants. The midday meal can be a long business, generally taken between 1 and 3pm, and no matter how high the temperature, the local inhabitants eat cooked food in cafes or restaurants. Dinner is enjoyed between 7.00pm & 9.00pm, and once again, normally is a hot cooked meal.

The real value of Portuguese cuisine could be exemplified as 'fresh ingredients, perfectly prepared'.

Portuguese food is mostly based on good quality, healthy local produce, typically fish, meat, olive oil, tomatoes and spices.

A good meal in portugal should always begin with a traditional portuguese soup.

The best known portuguese soup, is called caldo verde, a wholesome, tasty soup made with shredded kale and cabbage, potatoes and linguica or chorico. Caldo Verde comes from the Minho province, but is widely available throughout Portugal, from lisbon to the holiday resorts in the algarve.

Here is a Recipe for caldo verde that will let you bring the taste of portugal back home with you

Kale soup recipe (a traditional portuguese soup) -------------------------------------------------- 1 pound beef, stewing (cut into 2.5cm cubes) 0.5 lb. linguica or chourico (cut into slices) 1.5 qt (1.42 lt) water Dash of lo-sodium salt three big potatoes, 1" cubes 3 carrots, 1" (25mm) cubes 1 1/2 lb kale, well chopped, or 1 package frozen kale (thawed) 1/2 chopped cabbage half pkg. macaroni (preferably elbow macaroni) 1 can cannelloni beans (optional) 1 hot pepper, (remove seeds), chopped 1/3 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon Olive Oil

Instructions: ----------------- Peel and chop the potatoes and carrots.

Fill a large saucepan with the water and add the stewing beef, linguica or chorico and sea salt.

Bring to the boil and then siimmer and keep covered until such time as the stewing beef and portuguese sausage are as good as cooked.

Then add the chili, carrots, beans, (if using them), paprika, cabbage and kale and stir well.

Replace the pot lid and cook for 45 minutes or until kale is cooked.

Once the chopped kale is ready, add the olive oil chopped potatoes and macaroni.

Keep stirring the pan to make sure that the chopped potatoes and macaroni won't stick to the bottom of the sauce pan.

Cook slowly (keeping the sauce pan lid on) until potatoes & pasta are still perfectly cooked..

Caldo verde can be served as a starter or as a filling meal in its own right.

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