Sausage w/ White Beans & Spinach

The creation of this dish is actually pretty funny. Several years ago we decided we were going to try to work out and eat healthier. One of the first dishes I tried to make healthier was my sausage a peppers over penne. I'm not sure what it is that I love about that dish but I absolutely love it. It's super comforting, probably the carbs & pork but probably also because it reminds me of hanging out at my friends' houses. In hind site, it was probably a smart move on the parents to feed us pasta. Many times there were at least 3 of us if not more. Pasta is filling and affordable. But I digress.

One of the first "healthy" changes to the dish was to add spinach and remove the tomato sauce and replace it with real tomatoes and olive oil. I was excited to present the dish to hubby. Of course, he turns to me a says just because you removed the tomato sauce doesn't make it healthy. So back to the drawing board. To be honest, I not sure how many combinations I tried before I go to this recipe but it eventually happened.

This recipe in particular is really good if you are trying to increase your protein. I switched pasta for white kidney beans and finally had a winner. For this particular recipe I dropped the peppers but feel free to add it. Additionally, after a bit of research I learned the Vitamin C in tomatoes and red peppers helps the body absorb iron better. Especially, iron from plants. So, if you decided to make this dish without the sausage you still get reap the protein benefits.

Sausage w/White Beans and Spinach
Makes 6 servings


Ingredients
1 pound of Italian Sausage
12 ounces spinach
4 Roma tomatoes (sliced)
2 cans of white kidney beans
1/2 white onion (sliced)
4 cloves of garlic(minced)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

Directions
Fill a large pot with water and place it over medium high heat. Place sausage in pot and allow sausage to cook for about 15 minutes.

Place a stew pot/ dutch oven over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of oil.

Place sliced onions in pan and allow to cook until slightly translucent.

Add minced garlic and allow ingredients to cook for 30 seconds to a minute.

Add spinach to garlic and onions. Cook for 5 minutes.

Remove sausage from water allow to cool then slice diagonally.

Place a cast iron pan over medium heat.

Once pan is hot, place sausage in pan. Allow sausage to cook about 3 minutes until crisp and brown.

Add browned sausage, sliced tomatoes, red pepper flakes and beans to spinach, onions & garlic.

Gently stir and allow to cook or another 5 minutes.

Now your protein rich dinner is done... Mangia!!