Fireside White Bean and Sausage Soup

3/4 pound turkey sausage links, cut into 1/8-inch rounds
2 cups of chopped yellow onion
1 16-ounce can of chicken broth
1/4 cup water
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 16-ounce cans butter beans, well rinsed and drained

Place a dutch oven, preferably cast iron, over medium heat, add sausage, and cook until just beginning to brown. Add onion and cook for 6-8 minutes or until transparent. Add broth, water, bay leaves, thyme, black pepper, and cayenne, scraping bottom and sides. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover tightly, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add beans, reduce heat to a very low simmer, and cook for 4 minutes longer, uncovered. Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve.

Serves 4

I would think that any kind of beans, especially white ones, would work.

I wouldn't be surprised if Butter Beans and Great Northern Beans are pretty closely related. Cannelinis are smaller, but still white and so mild in taste.

This sounds delicious, but I'm wondering how to add more veggies to it. Maybe some greens and zucchini?

Butter beans are Lima beans, and are not (IMO) very similar to navy, canellini, or Great Northern beans. They are related to kidney beans, but they are a fresh shelling bean, not a drying bean. I would think any white or fresh shelling bean would be good with turkey/chicken, although I would possibly use a stronger tasting bean with a stronger meat, like beef. However, cassoulet is made with flageolets (similar to lima beans) and usually has duck/goose and lamb, so the lighter beans obviously can taste fine with stronger meats.

Hope this helps! I'm thinking of trying this tonight, as it's turned chilly. It reminds me of one of our favorite pre-SBD soups.

I made this yesterday for supper, and OMG! It's delicious! THANK YOU for posting the recipe!
I used extra-lean turkey sausage breakfast links, just cut them up. I also added a 28oz. can of fire-roasted tomatoes. Next time I will add some greens to it, such as escarole or spinach, etc., just to have more veggies in it. But this soup is excellent just as the recipe goes, too.

OMG...This soup is awesome! I've made it twice in the last week. The first time I used mild Italian poultry sausage and added zucchini and a little FF H&H. The second time I used hot Italian poultry sausage and added zucchini, spinach, more stock, and a little FF H&H. The second batch I made for non-SBDers and they LOVED it! Thank you!

I made this soup for lunch. Delicious. Since I made a huge batch, I grilled and sliced the sausage and will add to soup as we go along. I just don't know if I want the sausage to be in the soup for more than a couple of days.
Sophie

i lived off this stuff when i was on the south beach diet and i loved it. i always used ground turkey and seasoned it w/ italian seasoning- otherwise made it as is and it was so good!

I think I will try this tonight...how much spinach would you add? I would like to add more veggies as well???

I add an entire bag of fresh or frozen spinach. You can add as much vegetables of any kind that you want. This soup is very versatile.

Ok that sounds great!

Just had a bowl of this for supper...YUM!!! I did add in a bag of fresh spinach!

I added spinach and fire roasted tomatoes. It was a huge hit at home and at the meeting.

One word: YUMMY!