Kick Ass Kale Soup

I am a total sucker for soup; I just love it, especially this time of year. I found this recipe a few years ago and being that it is super healthy and totally delicious I thought sharing it seemed appropriate. And if you've never cooked with kale, it's really easy. You just rinse the kale really well to make sure there's no dirt hidden in the folds of the leaves and then rip the leafy bits away from the spine. Afterwards just rip the kale into little pieces. Totally easy.
Now fair warning, this soup has a fairly long prep time because there is a LOT of chopping involved, though if you have a food processor it will probably only take a few minutes. I don't have a food processor so the prep time on this is based on chopping by hand not when using a food processor.

Prep Time: Approximately 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large bell pepper chopped (I like orange bell peppers because it just brightens the soup up a bit)
1 large onion chopped
1 cup carrots chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2 cups red potatoes diced
6 cups kale ripped into bite size pieces (approximately one bunch of kale)
1 - 16 ounce can white kidney beans rinsed and drained
4-6 cups chicken stock
Salt and black pepper to taste
Approximately 1tsp each of thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary, and basil. I don't measure it, just add to taste.

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom soup pot over medium high heat. Add onion and cook for 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned. Add bell pepper, carrots, and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
2. Add potatoes, kale, beans chicken stock, salt, pepper, and spices and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
3. Add additional stock or water if soup becomes too thick. Let sit for about 5 minutes after cooking and serve. Enjoy!