Cabbage and Sausage Soup

So I had some cabbage to use up and found this recipe online. Tons of veggies, so I had little faith that my girls would eat it. They love sausage though, so I called it sausage stew and they loved it! Both of them ate the entire bowl for dinner and again for lunch 2 days later. Awesome! I do love a good bowl of soup/stew on a winter day. I used Jimmy Dean reduced fat sausage instead of the links and Better than Bouillon paste (from costco) instead of the cubes.

Cabbage and Smoked Sausage Soup

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Servings: 8

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound smoked sausage, sliced

4 cups chicken broth

1 head cabbage, coarsely chopped

3 carrots, sliced

3 stalks celery, sliced

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

1 (15 ounce) can red beans, with liquid

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

2 teaspoons (or 2 cubes) beef bouillon

1/2 teaspoon crushed dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried basil

Cook the onion, garlic, and sausage in a skillet over medium heat until lightly browned. Transfer to a crock pot. Pour in broth. Mix in cabbage, carrots, celery, rice, beans, tomato sauce, and crushed tomatoes. Add remaining seasonings. Bring to a boil. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 hours. (Until vegetables are tender and rice is cooked.)