It's a good day for soup

The skies are gloomy over Tampa Bay which means it's a good day for soup. Yeah, it's the Sunshine State but I look at this last gasp of cool as a gift before summer arrives full throttle.

Conventional wisdom says that soups have no place on the Florida table after about May 1, at which time the weather becomes soggy and hot and humid and gross. But with gas prices edging ever upward and groceries following, soup is an economical meal any time of the year. I mean, it's not like we eat cold dinners for six months out of the year.

I make a pot once a week and it lasts a couple nights. It's really such a comfort to have soup in the fridge when you're home late from work and school activities. My other trick is to buy some corn muffins (or makes some) and freeze them when I get home from the store. I pull them out in the morning before I head to work and we've got fresh bread at night.

This is a solid recipe from www.allrecipes.com. It can be made even quicker with a pound of cooked kielbasa or turkey sausage. I like to slice that cooked sausage and brown it anyway to impart more of the flavor into the soup. If I use turkey, then I switch to chicken broth.

Italian Sausage Soup 

1 pound Italian sausage
1 clove garlic, minced
2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
1 (14.5 ounce) can great  Northern beans, drained and rinsed
2 small zucchini, cubed
2 cups spinach - packed,  rinsed and torn
1/4 teaspoon ground black  pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a stockpot or Dutch oven, brown sausage with garlic. Stir in broth, tomatoes and carrots, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.

Stir in beans with liquid and zucchini. Cover, and simmer another 15 minutes, or until zucchini is tender.

Remove from heat, and add spinach. Replace lid allowing the heat from the soup to cook the spinach leaves. Soup is ready to serve after 5 minutes.

Serves 6.

Source: www.allrecipes.com