Mind Over Matter

The past few days have been very chilly but over all the weather has been all over the place.

On a cold February day, a hearty chunky soup to enjoy would be an Italian Sausage White Bean soup.

This recipe requires cannellini beans, carrots, onion, garlic, chicken broth, spinach, olive oil and Italian sausage. For seasoning, I used salt, pepper, paprika, basil, oregano, turmeric, and some lemon pepper.

Step one: Chop up the carrots into bite size chunks. You want them to be thick enough so they don’t turn into soggy mush.

Step two: Cut a medium onion into small pieces and cut up the garlic as well.

Step three: On medium high heat, let the skillet warm up. In the mean time, remove the casing from the sausage links. Once skillet is hot, add olive oil & cook the sausage for 10-12 minutes. With a wooden spoon I mashed up the links into small chunks. Keep an eye on them as they cook and flip them over at about the 5 minute mark. Season with paprika, salt and pepper. Once cooked, remove sausage onto a plate with NO paper towel. You’ll want to save the juices to add back into the pot later.

Step four: Add in the chopped onions. Saute for 3-5 minutes until lightly brown and translucent. Then add the chopped garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Step five: Add the beans (drained), chicken broth and the seasonings. Give it a good stir and be sure to taste! Adjust seasonings if need be. Let it cook for about 3 minutes. Side Note: I used low sodium chicken broth I didn’t want to overdo it with salt.

Step six: Turn the heat to low and using a ladle, scoop up some of the liquid and beans into a blender. I used the Nutribullet and it worked perfectly. I would say I blended roughly 2/3 of the beans and liquid. I wanted to leave some beans whole and have most of the liquid consistency thick for this soup. It did not disappoint!

Step seven: Pour the blended mixture back into the pot to bring to a boil. Once you see the little bubbles rise up in the soup, add the chopped carrots. Add in the cooked sausage as well! Cook for 15 minutes to thicken and the carrots are soft enough, but not over mushy. Leave it alone and cook on low, occasionally stirring to prevent the bottom from sticking.

Step eight: At about the 10 – 12 minute mark you can add the spinach. Be sure to wash your spinach first! Get rid of the sandy dirt off properly. Cook spinach for maybe 2 – 3 minutes. Stir and serve once finished cooking. This delicious soup tastes even better the next day and is packed with protein.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Italian sausage
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 4 cans cannellini beans (drained)
• 4 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
• Fresh spinach
• Seasonings: salt, pepper, paprika, basil, oregano, turmeric and lemon pepper.