Winter white bean and Italian sausage soup

Ingredients :

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

Directions :

1. Sautee garlic in olive oil.

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.