White Bean Soup

• 1 bag small white beans (or 4-5 cans small white beans)
• 2 T olive oil or mix of olive oil & butter
• 1 large onion chopped
• 3-4 stalks of celery chopped
• Italian parsley chopped
• 2-3 large carrots sliced into rounds
• 2-3 cloves garlic diced or garlic powder
• 2-3 bay leaves
• a pinch or two of thyme
• 1 package zenner's hot sausage, sliced into rounds or smaller
• 2+ cartons organic vegetable broth
• leftover cooked chicken or cooked ground chicken
• Optional:
• Chopped kale
• canned corn
• cooked jasmine rice
• cooked macaroni
• diced potatoes

1. Rinse the dry beans, cover with water, bring to a boil. Cover and remove from heat and let soak over night. Drain and rinse beans, add back to the pot and add veggie broth. Bring to a simmer. If you want a thicker soup, put some beans in a small pot to simmer and puree later.
2. Saute the onions, celery, carrots and Italian parsley in olive oil until soft. Add garlic, bay leaves and thyme for a few minutes. Add to the soup pot with the beans.
3. Saute the sausage to cook some of the fat out. Drain fat and add sausage to the soup pot.
4. Simmer until the beans are nice and soft. Add chicken (or ground chicken or turkey). Add anything else that sounds good.

white beans, olive oil, onion, stalks of celery chopped, italian parsley, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, sausage, chicken, kale, corn, jasmine rice, macaroni, potatoes

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/white-bean-soup-53019311 (may not work)