Growing up, I was not a soup fan. There was nothing fulfilling about it to me. To me, it was just a bowl of hot flavored, sometimes salty, water. That was until I discovered homemade soup. What was I doing with my life eating that canned stuff?! This is my opinion with food in general; homemade wins every time, so it shouldn't have been a surprise, but what a delightful surprise it was.

Today I wanted to share with you one of my favorites. And, with the new year a week away, this recipe is a great addition to anyone trying to jump start their healthy eating journey. I made this up one day when I was craving cabbage but wanted something with a little depth. I call it Italian cabbage soup because of the type of sausage used. I have no clue if this has any roots in Italian cuisine, so don't sue me! I also want to add that the recipe below is my base recipe. Sometimes I like to add potatoes or noodles to make it more filling, but even without those ingredients, it's just as good.

prep time: 10 to 15 minutes
cook time: 40 minutes
yield: 8 - 10 servings

Ingredients:
1 small head of cabbage roughly chopped
1 medium carrot diced
1 small onion diced
2 ribs of celery diced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1 tbsp parsley roughly chopped
1 lb ground italian sausage
salt & pepper to taste

Tools:
large soup pot

1. In a medium soup pot set on medium high heat sauté the celery, carrot and onion for about 5 minutes until the onions are translucent and the carrots and celery become slightly tender.

2. After the 5 minutes, add in the italian sausage and cook until browned adding salt to taste.

3. Once the sausage is cooked, begin to add the chicken stock, water, diced tomatoes and chopped cabbage and bring to a boil.

4. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and add parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 20-30 minutes then serve.