Hannah:

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you
, thank you!

I tried your recipe today.  I'm not one give to superlatives very often, but
this was the tastiest, most appealing food that I've ever had in my 4 or 5
years of low-carbing. Maybe since before.  It really is delicious.  It's
easy and fun to make and smells so good while the sausage and vegetables are
sautéeing that it drives you crazy!  Not only is it tasty and visually
appealing, but it's thick, filling and truly low carb.  I could eat this
every day ... and probably will for the next week or two; I can't recommend
it enough!  It's more than a soup, it's a hearty meal in itself full of
healthy vitamins and fiber.  It doesn't taste like any kind of "diet" food;
it just goes to show that low-carb is a way of eating and not a 'diet.'

I actually printed out your post and took it with me to the grocery store to
use as my shopping list.  I mde some small changes from your original
recipe; I discovered real fast that this is the kind of recipe that's really
easy to improvise with.  Because I've reseached and calculated the carbs,
fat, protein and calories based on the way that I made it, I'm listing the
slight changes that I made from the recipe that you posted.

- I substitued 1/2 sweet red pepper and 1/2 sweet yellow pepper for one of
the green peppers (it's pretty!)
- I added 1/2 medium cabbage, chopped, and sautéed it with the other
vegetables and the sausage befvore adding the liquids
- I substituted 1/4 cup of fresh chopped scallions for 1/4 onion
- I forgot to buy fresh garlic, so I had to use powderd that I had on hand.
So no carb count for the garlic.
- I added two 14-oz cans of low-sodium beef broth to compensate for the half
head of cabbage I added

Just a couple of notes:
#1, I was amazed at how far a little tomato paste goes.  Just the two
tablespoons gave the soup amazing color and texture.
#2.  I cooked everything in my Presto "Kitchen Kettle Multi-Cooker."  This
is a GREAT appliance for something like this.  (It's a combination electric
deep-fryer, steamer and soup kettle. )  Inexpensive at Wal-Mart or L-Mart.
I was able to sauté the sausage and vegetables in it, then add the liquids
and turn down the temperature to simmer the soup all in the same kettle.  It
was perfect for this use.
#3.  Before eating any I actually measured the entire finished quantity out
cup by cup in order to get an accurate count of the calorie breakdown for
the whole recipe.
#4.  I took your advice and got the fresh grated Parmesan cheese in the tub.
You're right, what a difference!

Anyway, here's how the recipe ended up as I made it, followed by the
fat/protein/carb counts.
-----------------

RECIPE: Hannah's Italian Sausage Soup:

Values listed are (fat, protein, carbs) in grams; carbs are net after
subtracting fiber

1 lb. Italian sausage (mild or spicy, depending on taste), thinly sliced
(70,54,4)
1/4 onion, chopped (0,0,3)

Scallions, chopped, ¼ cup  (0,0,1)
2 Tbsp. olive oil (27,0,0)
1 Green bell peppers, coarsely chopped (0,1,7)

½ Yellow bell pepper,  chopped (0,1,5)

½ red bell pepper, chopped (0,1,4)
Celery, 4 stalks, minced (0,1,3)

½ medium size cabbage, chopped (1,7,14)
Canned chicken broth, 2 quarts <64 oz>  (0,18,2)

Canned beef broth, low sodium, 28 oz  (5,16,2)
Zucchini, 2 med, cubed  (0,2,4)
2 Tbsp. tomato paste (0,2,5)

Serve hot with a sprinkling of fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Seasonings to taste (depends on sausage seasoning)

<I used fresh ground peppercorns, oregano, sage>

-----------------------------------------

"Sauté onion and sliced Italian sausage in olive oil in soup kettle.
Add garlic, celery, peppers and cabbage when sausage and onion start to
brown, continue cooking over medium heat till the onion is partially
carmelized on the bottom of the pan and vegetables are partially
cooked. (Carmelizing the onion really adds to the flavor, so let it
slowly reach a nice brown).

Add broth, zucchini, tomato paste, and seasonings to taste. I usually
use spicy (hot) sausage and add a bit of oregano and basil, plus
enough salt and crushed red pepper to suit. Bring to a boil, turn
down, cover and simmer all day. Trust me, the longer this cooks the
better. The sausage almost melts in your mouth and the flavors are
well blended with long, slow cooking.

This is great on a cold, winter day served in a big heavy earthenware
bowl, sprinkled with a big handful of grated parmesan cheese (NO, not
the stuff in the cylindrical box, the stuff you get in the dairy case
and grated finely by hand - much better)."

 (Hannah Gruen)

------------------------------------------------

These are my calorie breakdowns -- Peter

Makes 15 cups

---

All values are rounded to the nearest .5g:

For the whole recipe:

    Fat:  103g

    Protein:  103g

    Carbs:  54g

Per cup serving, rounded to nearest .5g

         Fat:   7g

    Protein:  7g

    Carbs:   3.5

 Calories:   105

Add 1g of each for  a sprinkling of  fresh grated parmesan cheese on the hot
soup!

Thanks again, Hannah!  I haven't been this excited over food in a long time!

Peter