Winter White Bean and Italian Sausage Soup

• 1 tsp. minced garlic

• 1/2 tsp. extra light virgin olive oil

• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth

• 3 cups cooked white beans – or one 15 oz. can Great Northern or Cannellini beans, rinsed

• 1 lb. Italian sausage, cooked and rinsed

• 1 tsp. dried basil or 4 minced leaves fresh basil

• 2 cups diced tomatoes

• 1 10 oz. pkg. frozen spinach

1 tsp. Parmesan cheese

2. Add sauteed garlic to 4 cups of chicken broth.

3. Add white beans to chicken broth and bring to boil for 5 minutes. Option: for creamy soup use hand blender and puree beans into broth.

4. Add remaining ingredients and simmer.

5. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

Note: You can make the soup slimmer by using Italian turkey sausage. You can decrease the sodium by using dried and cooked beans instead of canned and rinsed.

Number of Servings: 8