Sausage, White Bean, and Spinach Gumbo Soup

 So soup is one of my favorite family meals.  Whole meal in one pot? Yes please!  We eat it year-round because it's easy and hearty and delicious.  Even during the peak of summer heat you can bet I'll be cooking soup at least once a week (sooo thankful for AC!).  This particular soup recipe I have cooked a few times, and while I've tried it with a variety of different ingredients, I think I hit on the perfect combination this last time.  Everyone was raving about it (except my husband, who happens to be trying an all-meat diet currently and had to pass on the soup for a giant steak; yes, he's crazy), and after I finished I was looking forward to eating more of it the next day for lunch (and it did not disappoint the second time either).  Ya'll should give it a try for sure...

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 13 oz. package smoked andouille sausage, thinly sliced
• 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 3 medium carrots, diced
• 2 cans cannelini beans (white kidney beans), drained and rinsed
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 Tablespoon Tony's Creole Seasoning (or your favorite creole seasoning)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cups chicken broth
• Salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste
• 3 cups spinach

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a stock pot over medium high heat and add sausage, stirring frequently, until nicely browned (about 3-5 minutes).  
2. Remove sausage from pot and set aside, keeping as much oil in the pot as possible
3. Add chopped garlic, onion, celery, and carrots to the pot.  Reduce to medium heat and cook vegetables until onions start to turn transluscent and carrots are starting to soften a little (7-10 min).  
4. Add spices, broth, tomato paste, and beans to the pot.  Turn heat up to  medium high/high.  Once soup starts to boil, turn heat down to low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.
5. Add spinach and sausage to the soup and stir.  Once spinach has wilted, remove bay leaves, then turn off the heat and serve!  If you want to eat it gumbo-style, you can serve a scoop of white rice with it, but we usually just have it without rice.  (To really eat it in true gumbo style, you'll need some potato salad to top the whole thing.  I know it sounds weird, but it's really good!)

*You can make this in an instant pot easily.  Just set your pot to saute and follow instructions 1-3.  Then add spices etc. and set to pressure cook on high for 2 minutes.  Manually release the pressure as soon as the time is up and add your spinach and sausage into the pot. Stir and serve.  

Could adapt easily to make in a slow-cooker as well.