Stay-At-Home Night

It was one of those nights when we discussed what was the easiest--going out to dinner or cooking at home. Cooking is sometimes easier. 

Tonight I made a quick soup. A perfect choice since we had both been out in the cold most of the day. The recipe is a favorite here. I like this soup because--in addition to being really good--it doesn't make a huge amount. There will be some left over but not so much that we have to eat it for days and days.

North Woods Bean Soup

2-3 teaspoons olive oil

1 large carrot, peeled & diced (or 1 cup baby carrots, quartered)

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic (or 1 teaspoon jarred minced garlic)

7 oz. turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 (15.8 ounce) cans Great Northern beans, drained & rinsed

fresh baby spinach leaves

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic and kielbasa. Saute 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and cook 5 minutes. Add broth, Italian seasoning, pepper and beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.

Place 2 cups of soup in blender and process until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pot and simmer 5 minutes. Remove soup from heat. Add a large handful (about half a regular-size bag is good), stirrring until spinach wilts.

Serves 5 (1-1/2 cup servings)

There are three bowls out tonight because Jessica got home from the big city in time to eat with us. So good to have her here for a couple of days. She brought her knitting home to get a little help from the "knitter-in-chief." (That would be me.) 

When we both pulled out our knitting projects after supper, it was funny to see how different our projects were. She loves bulky wool and large huge needles. And I'm working with sock yarn on tiny needles. Jessica says mine looks like doll house knitting.

She has a squishy-soft cowl and a fun headband/ear warmer on her needles at the moment. And I'm making socks. Just plain gray socks. She'll be done with her two projects before I finish the socks. Maybe I should check out the giant needle kind of projects next time.