Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm Monday - National Garlic Day

It's National Garlic Day! Anyone been to Gilroy, CA for the garlic festival? I've been through Gilroy, but not at the right time. Doesn't matter what time of year, that place always has a hint of garlic in the air.

Back to Alaska & reality - 
It's kind of dreary outside today. The skies are gray, and looks as if it could snow although we are only forecasted to have clouds the next several days. (late afternoon update: it's raining now) Today's weather made me think it was high time we had a homemade soup for lunch with our sandwich. I found today's recipe over the weekend while I was catching up on my reading/surfing. Tuscan White Bean Soup sounded so yummy when I saw the recipe on The Tiny Skillet. The original recipe was from Giada De Laurentiis. I halved the recipe since it was just the two of us and I wasn't sure if we'd like it. We did! So next time I'll make the whole batch.

Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup (Original Recipe Giada De Laurentiis)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
1 sage leaf
2 (15-ounce) cans cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, cut in 1/2
1/2 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Place a medium, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil, and shallot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sage and beans and stir to combine. Add the stock and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the garlic and simmer until the garlic is softened, about 10 minutes. Pour the soup into a large bowl. Carefully ladle 1/3 to 1/2 of the soup into a blender and puree until smooth. Be careful to hold the top of the blender tightly, as hot liquids expand when they are blended. Pour the blended soup back into the soup pan. Puree the remaining soup. Once all the soup is blended and back in the soup pan, add the cream and the pepper Keep warm, covered, over very low heat.

**I made a few changes/substitutions to make the recipe a little more point friendly and accommodate our tastes. I subbed 2 tsp. of  I Can't Believe it's Not Butter for the actual butter and only about a tsp. of olive oil, and used fat-free half & half instead of cream. Only 1 clove of garlic and minced it instead of just cutting in half. I used my immersion blender to blend the soup after it was cooked and before adding the half & half.

The sandwich thin has burbon chicken deli lunch meat & baby Swiss cheese.