Escarole and White Bean Soup

Michael and I have been trying to eat healthier for the past month (ever since Aruba and those evil Pina Coladas.) So this past weekend we made Escarole and White Bean Soup - although it's not very soupy but there is some broth to it. It's a very simple dish but its filling, has lots of veggies and you won't end up feeling like you can't move after you eat it. Here is the recipe….

1 head of escarole
1 pack of spicy Italian sausage (you can opt to get the sweet one too if you don't like spicy)
1 medium onion diced
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
1 can of white beans (discard water in can)
Olive oil
One can of chicken broth

Wash head of escarole very very thoroughly. Like spinach, escarole can have a lot of dirt at its base. Chop the cleaned escarole to 3 inch pieces. (Basically rip the leaf into 3 parts)

In a medium size pan or deep dish pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Take the sausages out of it casing and sauté until you have sausage crumbles. Place cooked crumbles on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess fat.

In the same pan, discard all of the oil from cooking the sausage but leave approx 1 tablespoon in the pan. Over low to medium heat sauté the garlic and onions. Once the garlic and onions become translucent add the crumbles, escarole and half a can of chicken broth. Stir to combine all the ingredients and place lid on the pan to let the escarole cook down. When the escarole is cooked add half to whole can beans and let it simmer for another minute or two.

Season with salt and pepper, add additional hot pepper flakes if you like, and serve. You can serve the dish over pasta or just eat it plain with some crusty bread to soak up the broth.

Note: We also had it the next day but the dish didn't have enough escarole. We added a bunch of broccoli rabe to the left over dish which also worked beautifully.