What's for dinner

Tonight we had ...

Tuscan Bean & Sausage Soup

• 3/4 lbs Italian sausage links, removed from casing and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 yellow squash or zucchini, sliced
• 3 cans navy beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can Italian tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 2 cups fresh spinach, shredded
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning

In a soup pot over medium heat, brown sausage and fully cook. Drain grease. Add onion and garlic and cook till translucent. Add squash and sauté about one minute. Add remaining ingredients and simmer till heated through, about 10 minutes.

Freezes and reheats wonderfully.

Becky's notes:
This soup makes about twice as much as what our family of four will typically eat for a single meal. That's great if you want to freeze some for leftovers, but if you don't want to worry about it, think about halving the ingredients for a single meal.

We like to use the mild/sweet variety of Italian sausage, so that the kids will actually eat it. They don't like spicy things.

The recipe, as is, calls for 1 squash. It should be one large squash, or two smaller, if you're going to make the full recipe. If you're going to half it, the smaller kind are fine.

Navy beans? They're small white beans. I've ended up substituting Great Northern Beans, which are also white - I can't taste a difference, and they're cheaper.

Bottom line, this is a quick soup to throw together, and the cooking time is minimal. It comes out very tasty when you're done, and freezes well for future meals, too! Woohoo!