North Woods bean soup

I planned to share two soups with, but one of them wasn't share-worthy. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I tried to make a similar red lentil recipe before and I was met with the same "eh" feeling: not awful, but not inspiring.

This North Woods bean soup, on the other hand, is fantastic. This is the soup that I made a double batch of for New Year's lunch that was finished off by 6 p.m. that night. It's good comfort food: it warms your insides and makes you feel good. And it's insanely quick and easy to make. It tastes like it would take hours to get that smokey, slow roasted flavor, but this soup is done in less than 30 minutes. I know! Serve it with some cornbread and you'll be good to go.

The recipe is just about perfect as is, but when making it this time, I modified a few things:
I added a teaspoon of salt. This is a judgment call. The kielbasa has enough sodium, but I think a little extra makes a big difference.
I like my soups more thick than thin, so: I used a little less broth than called for: maybe 3 1/2 cups. And when it was all done, I added about an 1/8 cup of whole-wheat couscous.

North Woods Bean Soup
CookingLight.com

Cooking spray
1 cup baby carrots, halved
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
7 ounces turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 (15.8-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 (6-ounce) bag fresh baby spinach leaves

Heat a large saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic, and kielbasa; sauté 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium; cook 5 minutes. Add the broth, Italian seasoning, pepper and beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.

Place 2 cups of the soup in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Return the pureed mixture to pan. Simmer an additional 5 minutes. Remove soup from heat. Add the spinach (I chopped it first), stirring until spinach wilts.