Italian White Bean, Sausage, and Cabbage Soup

I was looking around on my pinterest soup board for something to make last night and came across this one. Since we now have a vegetarian in the house sometimes things can be a challenge. This soup looked good and was easy enough to make it so that all of us could enjoy it. I cooked the sausage separately and just put it in the bowls for those of us who wanted it and ladled the soup on top. The original recipe calls for breakfast sausage but I used sweet Italian sausage. This is a veggie heavy soup, lots of veggies to a lesser amount of broth.

Italian White Bean, Sausage, and Cabbage Soup
serves 6-8

1 lb. sweet or hot Italian sausage
1 small onion, diced
1 small cabbage, sliced into bite sized pieces, about 4 cups
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can drained Great Northern beans
6 c. chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp garlic powder
red pepper flakes, a few shakes (optional)
salt, to taste

Cook and crumble the sausage in a large pot over medium heat. When the sausage has almost finished browning add the onions. Cook for a few more minutes until the sausage is cooked through and the onions are soft. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and simmer for about 5-10 minutes until the cabbage is soft.

Slightly modified from Barefeet in the Kitchen.

Cook and crumble the sausage in a large pot, over medium high heat. When the sausage has almost finished browning, add the onions. Cook for a few more minutes, until the sausage has browned and the onions are tender. Add the cabbage, beans, tomatoes, broth, and spices. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes to soften the cabbage. - See more at: http://www.barefeetinthekitchen.com/2014/08/italian-sausage-cabbage-soup-recipe.html#sthash.XOgl9IDv.dpuf

Cook and crumble the sausage in a large pot, over medium high heat. When the sausage has almost finished browning, add the onions. Cook for a few more minutes, until the sausage has browned and the onions are tender. Add the cabbage, beans, tomatoes, broth, and spices. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes to soften the cabbage. - See more at: http://www.barefeetinthekitchen.com/2014/08/italian-sausage-cabbage-soup-recipe.html#sthash.XOgl9IDv.dpuf