Tuscan Vegetable Soup

One day earlier this week, Lucy and I opted to stay at home instead of fight the rain so I settled in to make Vegetable Soup and homemade bread for supper. Soup and Bread makes one of the BEST meals ever and I am always looking for more great soup recipes. This one will definitely go in the "recipe notebook."
I'm including a link to the original recipe in case you want to compare, since I made several changes based on our tastes. Let me know if you try it and like it!

Tuscan Vegetable Soup
(adapted from Ellie Krieger)

1- 15 oz. can canellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbs. Olive Oil
1/2 Large onion, diced
4 carrots, sliced
Sliced Mushrooms (How ever many you want, I had four leftover so I threw em in!)
One small box of frozen lima beans, drained and thawed partially
2 cups shredded Zucchini (She said to use one small diced zucchini, but I had shredded in the freezer.)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1/2 tsp salt (I didn't use quite this much, I just did it to taste. a pinch at the beginning and a pinch at the end)
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
32 ounces low sodium Chicken Broth (Or Vegetable!)
1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes with the juice
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1/3 cup grated parmesan (for garnish-- don't leave this part out-- it's so good!)

In a small bowl, mash half of the cannellini beans with the back of a spoon, set aside.

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over med-high heat. Add onion, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, thyme, sage, a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, about 5-9 minutes.

Add the broth, tomatoes and lima beans and bring to a boil. Add the mashed and whole white beans and the spinach and cook 3-5 minutes more until the spinach is wilted.

Serve topped with parmesan cheese.