Roots of a Southern Kitchen

This recipe is perfect when paired with a thick slice of cornbread! The sausage and bacon give this dish the savory element it needs! I could have eaten the whole pot myself! The original recipe at Salt and Lavender calls for Italian sausage, but my boyfriend and I aren’t big fans, so we used some ground deer sausage we had in the deep freeze!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground sausage
• 4 strips bacon, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 chopped onion or 1/4 cup dried minced onion
• 1 chopped red bell pepper
• 5 cups white beans (I used great northern beans. Make sure you soak dry beans overnight!)
• 32 oz chicken broth
• 2-3 cups water (enough so that everything in pot is covered in liquid after adding broth)
• 1 T Italian seasoning
• 1/2 T onion powder
• 1/2 T garlic powder
• 1 cups chopped carrots
• 2 cups spinach
• Salt and pepper

Steps:

1. Cook bacon pieces in a pan until fully cooked. Remove and set aside.
2. Brown sausage with chopped onion and bell pepper.
3. In a pot, add all other ingredients except spinach and bring to boil. Boil about 15 min or until beans and carrots are soft.
4. Add in spinach and let wilt.
5. Add sausage and bacon and mix to incorporate. Serve with a warm slice of cornbread!