Chicken, Italian Sausage, and Rice Soup

There will not be some twenty paragraph blog about how I learned this from my grandmother. The only grandmother I knew put green olives in meatloaf. I rest my case.

Ingredients

2 Italian sausage links, hot or mild, sliced (hot is better)

2 skinless boneless chicken thighs

4 cups low sodium chicken broth (divided)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

½ cup of rice

1 can cannellini beans with liquid

1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed

Shredded parmesan

Process

Sausage links are easier to slice (and/or peel if you prefer) if they are frozen or particularly cold.

As for the spinach, if you cannot find a large bag of loose chopped spinach, you can use a large butcher knife to cut a frozen package into quarters. The remaining pieces can be bagged and put back in the freezer.

Cook the sausage slices in a saucepan large enough to hold all the ingredients. You may want to add a splash of olive oil. Remove the cooked sausage slices.

Brown the chicken thighs in the remaining oil. A minute and a half per side.

Add 3 cups of chicken broth and the cream of chicken soup. Add the herbs. (I have use dried, but if you like fresh better, go ahead. Can’t translate amounts, sorry.)

Blend it all together. It might be easier to remove the thighs, but I make do without removing them.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes or until thighs are done.

In a separate small saucepan, combine the rice and the other cup of chicken broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.

When thighs are done, remove them to cool, then cube or shred.

Add everything (chicken, sausage, beans, rice, spinach) back into the pot. Simmer for a few minutes so everything is heated through and the flavors have melded.

Serve with shredded parmesan (optional) and/or croutons.