North Woods Bean Soup

It's been really chilly outside, and I haven't made soup in a while. This looked like a pretty easy recipe, so I decided to make it for our Sunday supper. I was really pleased with how it turned out. The Italian seasoning was perfect with the turkey sausage and the vegetables in the soup. I doubled the recipe and had my in-laws over. We all enjoyed the soup with a slice of skillet cornbread.

Ingredients:
Cooking Spray
1 cup baby carrots, cut in thirds lengthwise
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
7 ounces turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (15.8-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 (6-ounce) bag fresh baby spinach leaves

Directions:
Heat a large saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic, and kielbasa; saute 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium; cook 5 minutes. Add the broth, Italian seasoning, pepper, and beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Place 2 cups of the soup in a food processor or blender, and process until smooth. You may want to let it cool a little bit before you process so it won't explode out of the top of the blender. I learned the hard way.
Return the pureed mixture to pan. Simmer an additional 5 minutes. Remove soup from heat. Add the spinach, stirring until spinach wilts.
Yield: 5 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)

Nutritional Info (per serving): 227 calories; 3.9g fat; 3.5mg iron; 26mg cholesterol; 112mg calcium; 30.8g carbohydrate; 750mg sodium; 18.1g protein; 6.7g fiber

Source: Cooking Light