Cannellini Beans w. Spinach

One of my very favorite things to do in my ETL Test Kitchen is modify an existing traditional recipe. It probably won't ever be as good as the original (let's face it: butter, oil, animal fat, cream, and salt really are hella good). But with a little bit of effort and a healthy understanding of the negative effects those ingredients have on our bodies, the ETL version is going to be worth trying and eating!

I learned this recipe from my current client's mother who is an absolute powerhouse in the kitchen. The woman cooks the most amazing dishes from memory alone. She is a walking encyclopedia of Julia Child and Marcella Hazan recipes, two women credited with writing ground-breaking cookbooks in their time. I'll spare you the details of the original recipe, for your own good. (it includes bacon!)

Ingredients:
2 cloves of garlic
1 can no salt added cannellini beans (Eden Organic)
1/2 cup no salt added chicken or veggie stock (Kitchen Basics)
Bag of spinach
Fresh cracked pepper

Water-saute the garlic with just a few spoonfuls of water. Add cannellini beans and stock. Top with as much spinach as your pan will hold. That stuff wilts down to practically nothing. I try to add the entire bag even if it's in stages as the spinach begins to cook. Cover and simmer until the spinach wilts and the beans soften, but before the stock evaporates completely. Top with fresh cracked pepper and enjoy!

Notes-
Chicken actually isn't on ETL, but I make an exception for this stock because:
1. No way I'm making my own. I barely have time to chop all the veggies I eat in a day, let alone make a basic ingredient I can find at the market without salt.
2. It's fat free.
3. It has even less sodium than the veggie version of no salt added.
4. Did I mention I can buy it already made without salt?!

This recipe just begs to be pureed into a soup! The cannellini beans plump up and start to fall apart the longer you cook them. They would be truly creamy once pureed. I was desperate to do just that recently, but I don't yet have a blender in my DC apartment. I've decided with Winter upon us, to buy a stand-up hand mixer for just this type of thing. Soup in a flash! Also, tell me this doesn't sound good: coarsely chopped woody (maybe shitake?) mushrooms on top! Yes, please!