PORTUGUESE BEAN SOUP

I'm looking at this picture and wishing I had a pot of this soup simmering away right now.  It is filled with all sorts of yummy things--cannellini and red kidney beans, sausage, potatoes, spinach, garlic, fresh basil, cayenne pepper and more.   You can spice it up by adding more cayenne and hot Italian sausage.  Or choose a milder route as I did combining chicken and basil sausage with the hot sausage and using a 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

It should freeze well but no chance to find out--it was gobbled up too quickly.

Portuguese Bean Soup 
1 med onion, chopped
6 crushed garlic cloves
1 lb sausage (I used a combination of chicken and basil sausage with hot Italian chicken sausage)
Olive oil (I used a few tablespoons)
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 carrots, diced
2 diced med. red potatoes
1 med. can stewed tomatoes
1 tsp. thyme
2 cans chicken broth
1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach (or kale would work great)
dash of red wine vinegar
8 large basil leaves, chopped
1/2 to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (one teaspoon makes the soup very spicy)
One bunch of parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute' onions, garlic, sausage in olive oil until sausage is lightly browned. Add the remaining ingredients except parsley to mixture. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 1 hour, allowing the flavors to mix. Place a few sprigs of parsley in each bowl before ladling the soup.

Recipe adapted from Jani S.