Recipe: a delicate soup

Inspired by navy bean soup and minestrone, this soup is light, quick, and easy. With the proportions below I made maybe 7 bowls of soup, but I ate three right off the bat, so your call as to how many "servings" that means.

Ingredients:
- oil for sauteeing
- chopped onion (1), garlic (2 cloves), carrot (1), a little bit of celery (half stalk)
- chopped sausage (one link, I used sun-dried tomato/basil/chicken)
- pasta cooked to minimum recommended time (one cup, I used whole-wheat gemelli which is al dente in 5 minutes)
- handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
- can of navy beans
- double-handful of spinach
- peppercorn in a pepper grinder

Instructions:
Sautee onion, garlic, carrot, celery until it's all fragrant and garlic and onion are soft. Sautee in sausage, push to bottom of pan to brown if you like. Sautee in tomatoes for a moment and then add water and bring to boil. Five or so minutes later add navy beans and bring to boil. A few minutes later add the spinach and cooked pasta, turn off heat. When you like how the spinach looks, ladle into serving bowls and grind in some delicious black pepper.

Commentary:
It's not heavy like the navy bean soups I've had at restaurants, and the tomatoes don't dominate, unlike most minestrones I've known. The broth is light, thickened only by the beans, and the cherry tomatoes and carrots haven't disintegrated. Since the soup is cooked quickly, the ingredients retain their individuality and character, floating in the golden broth like edible gems. No salt added because the sausage had salt enough and the navy beans add a little more. Pick your favorite sausage to influence the flavor of the soup, and you don't need a large link. I used one of those little chicken sausages they sell at Trader Joe's. So the soup isn't totally homemade, but I give it points for being easy to make, nutritionally well-rounded, visually appealing, and yummy.