North Woods Bean Soup

This was an unusual soup that I found on For the Love of Cooking. It used smoked sausage(aka kielbasa). I am always looking for different ways to use it and this peaked my interest. I knew I had one lonely package still in the freezer so onto the menu it went.

North Woods Bean Soup-adapted from For the Love of Cooking

1 qt low sodium chicken broth
2.5 cups water(+1 bouillon cube,if prefered)
2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained well
1 pkg smoked sausage
3 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 tsp each: thyme, basil, and oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tsp garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Place carrots, celery, and onion in pot with oil. Saute until light brown. Dump into slow cooker. Sauted sausage with garlic until sausage is lightly browned. Add to cooker along with broth, water, beans, and seasonings, stir. Turn on low for 2 hrs or until heated through. You can also cook this on the stove in a large soup pot.  My cooker then switches to low, so it stayed warm. If left on for a long period of time, your sausage turns a funny color, but still tastes good.

**Despite the sausage being a funny color, it tasted wonderful! Also my inlaws were here for dinner and we ran out the door so I did not get a picture of it! Q LOVED it!