Comforting Spanish Bean Soup

With it being wintertime, I have been in a soup/stew frame of mind lately; and one of my favorite soups growing up was Spanish bean soup. There was always something very comforting about a big bowl of soup with ham stock. I remember walking in and smelling the wonderful ham stock and saffron and my mouth beginning to water at the savory and hearty flavors this soup has to offer. This isn't my grandmothers exact recipe, but this was something that I whipped up with some limited ingredients and less meat in the recipe.
As a side note, while I was getting started cooking this batch of soup, I had a small disaster in the kitchen and dropped a full jar of tahini which exploded all over the kitchen, my pants and shoes.

Ingredients

6 oz smoked ham (chopped)
1 large onion, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 pounds brown mushrooms, chopped
8 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon saffron
1 teaspoon yellow rice seasoning
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 cup green onions, diced
8 small potatoes, quartered
2, 14.5oz cans garbanzo beans
1 pound carrots, coarsely chopped
1 medium head of cabbage (cone cabbage preferred)
1/4 cup green onion and flat leaf parsley to top

Steps

Heat a saucepan over low heat and mix the chicken broth, add the saffron, yellow rice seasoning, chipotle chili powder and soy sauce.
While the broth is heating up, heat a 8 qt stainless steel pot over medium high and brown the ham for 3 minutes, add the onion and cook for 3 minutes and add the bell pepper. Cook for another 3 minutes and add the crushed garlic, cook 1 additional minute and add the mushrooms. Cover and cook for 10 minutes and then add the chicken broth mixture.
Add the potatoes and cook for 20 minutes, add the green onion and carrots, cook for another 10 minutes and then add the cabbage and cook till the cabbage is tender.
Serve in a bowl with green onions and parsley to top.

For vegan/vegetarians, subtract the ham & substitute the chicken broth for vegetable/mushroom broth.