Italian Sausage and White Bean Soup

Kurt

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian sausage cooked and drained. I use mild. (use any type of Italian sausage, as long as it's drained and has as much grease removed as possible. Turkey or chicken sausage would reduce the fat content as well)
• 1 medium onion
• 1 tbsp fresh minced garlic or 2-3 cloves
• 1 cup diced carrots (we like the baby carrots)
• 1 rib celery diced (we don’t like celery so this usually doesn’t make into our soup)
• 1 cup finely chopped spinach
• 1 cup chopped kale
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• About 48 oz of low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup milk or cream
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning (or 1 tbsp basil and 1 tsp oregano)
• 2 - 15 oz cans of Cannellini beans

Instructions

1. While cooking sausage, dice and saute onion, celery, and carrots until onion is translucent.
2. Drain sausage and chop into bite-sized pieces
3. Add chicken broth, vinegar, milk, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, onion/carrot saute, garlic, and sausage to a soup pot.
4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
5. Chop spinach and kale while waiting for soup to boil.
6. When soup boils, reduce heat to simmer and add spinach, beans, and kale.
7. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.