Country Cottage Sausage & Bean Stew

This is not a soup. It’s denser, thicker, more of a stew. We serve it over rice or mashed potatoes. You could also serve it in a shallow bowl with wedges of cornbread or a simple muffin.

You can use any type of white bean to make this soup, or even pinto beans, if that was all you had. I’ve never made it with lentils, but I expect they would work fine too. Navy beans, great northern beans, lima beans or cannelini beans would all work well too.

If you are making your beans from scratch then set to soak the day before you plan to make the soup. Drain them the next morning and simmer the beans until tender. Set the beans aside until you need them for dinner.

I make this dish with turkey breakfast sausage, but you could use pork sausage, or smoked sausage if you preferred. For that matter, I expect that a good quality hot dog would also work well.

Country Cottage Sausage & Beans Stew

Ingredients

• 3-cups cooked white beans, about 1/2-pound dry (1-1/4 cups) OR 2 (15-ounce) cans of white beans, well drained
• 1 pound turkey sausage
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional)
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 -1/2 teaspoons minced garlic, 2 small cloves
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chicken broth powder or 1-1/2 bouillon cubes
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1 cup Coffee Rich or evaporated milk or unsweetened soymilk
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup cold water

Directions

Prepare your beans ahead of time if necessary. Canned beans will also work, but they will cost more.

Prepare your vegetables. Peel the onion, carrots and garlic. Chop the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Set aside.

Get out a large skillet or saucepan. I use an iron chicken fryer. Place the turkey sausage into the pan and fry it up, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. If your sausage is very lean you may need to add 1-tablespoon of oil. When the sausage is close to done add the vegetables. Fry them about with the sausage until the onion is beginning to become to tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the broth powder, black pepper, 1-1/2 cups water and milk product. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and allow it to simmer for 15-minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile, stir the cornstarch into the cold water. Pour this into boiling stew and stir gently. Bring to a boil again and simmer for a couple of minutes, or until thickened.

Serve over cooked rice or mashed potatoes with a green salad on the side.

Makes 6 servings.

Per Serving: 367 Calories; 14g Fat (35.3% calories from fat); 22g Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 9g Dietary Fiber; 49mg Cholesterol; 553mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1-1/2 Grain(Starch); 2-1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 1 -1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.