I lieu of my potential Paleo transition, today’s recipe was found on fastpaleo.com.  I love this recipe because I love to take soup to work for lunch but it often doesn’t keep me full.  Not so with this soup.  Its very hearty and keeps me full until late afternoon.  I don’t love that it uses canned tomato sauce because commercial canning uses a lot of preservatives and if it doesn’t go bad I’m not so sure it’s good for you (except honey of course), but it’s still a pretty good recipe.  I just need to look up the recipe for tomato sauce in my Vitamix!  Next time I make this I’ll do that but this time I just used organic canned tomato sauce.

16 oz sausage of your choice

1 onion, sliced

16 oz mushrooms, sliced

4 zucchini, sliced

3 cups tomato sauce (2 cans)

4 cups spinach leaves

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

2 tsp garlic powder

Red pepper flakes to taste

Using a large, deep skillet, brown your sausage over medium heat.  I used pork jalapeno links.  If using sausage meat, break up with the back of a spoon into crumbles, then remove from pan and put aside.  If using links, brown evenly and also set aside until cool enough to slice.

Remove any extra grease from the pan other than what is needed to saute the onions, if necessary.  Add them to the pan over low-medium heat and soften slightly before adding the zucchini slices.  Saute a few minutes before adding the mushrooms.

Add the tomato sauce, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.  Add the sausage back to the pan; slice links first if using.  Bring almost to a boil, then cover (with a little gap to let steam out).

Turn the heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables have released their juices.  Uncover the pan and add red pepper flakes to taste.  Let simmer about 10 minutes until it is slightly thickened, then add the spinach leaves and allow them to wilt.

This is such a tasty, yummy stew and it’s packed with healthy veggies.  I will definitely be making this again.  Happy cooking!