White bean soup with sausage and greens

This one pot recipe is for a crockpot or slow cooker, but I made it in about 20 minutes in a large pan on the stove! The recipe to follow is from Real Simple magazine. I did a few substitutions and made a few modifications to the recipe. I used polish sausage instead of andouille sausage, but you can choose whatever you like. I also used canned beans instead of dried beans, which cuts the time by 7 hours and 10 minutes. I also used romaine lettuce instead of collards, which works just as well. Just toss the lettuce into the serving bowl and ladle the cooked mixture over it while it's still hot. This leaves some crunch in the lettuce and doesn't completely wilt it. I also added some garlic, about one clove of chopped garlic, and tossed in the thyme bundle about 5-10 minutes before serving at the end when the soup comes to a boil.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried white beans (such as cannellini or great Northern)
• 1/2 pound andouille sausage links, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bunch collard greens, stems discarded and leaves cut into bite-size pieces (about 8 cups)
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• kosher salt and black pepper
• olive oil and bread sticks, for serving