- Since you guys loved my lentil soup recipe so much,
I thought I would follow that up with today's recipe
for cabbage soup.
Cabbage soup is great for these colder months,
because it's incredibly nourishing,
it's loaded with vegetables,
and it just makes you feel good.
Today's recipe is a simple cabbage soup
that comes together in less than 30 minutes.
But think of this also as a blank canvas,
because it's one of the most adaptable soup recipes,
there's so much that you can do with it,
and I'll give you a few tips in the video.
So let's dive right in.
Similar to many chunky, veggie-heavy soups,
this cabbage soup starts with a mirepoix base
which is a mix of celery, carrot, and onion.
You'll start by slicing and dicing two celery stalks.
And I find it's easiest
to just slice down the celery lengthwise two to three times,
depending on how wide it is,
and then chop across for perfectly bite-sized pieces.
And once that's done, just set it aside for now.
Next, you'll slice and dice one large carrot
into similarly sized pieces.
You can peel or not peel the carrot, it's up to you.
And then the way I chop a carrot
is to cut it in half across the middle,
and then cut those smaller pieces in half lengthwise.
That gives you a flat surface so it doesn't roll around,
and then you can easily slice
and dice it into smaller chunks.
And when this is done, just push it aside as well.
The last item for our mirepoix mix is one onion,
and you'll slice and dice that.
It's amazing how much flavor
these three simple aromatic vegetables
can add to soups and stews
when they're sauteed with a little bit of butter or oil.
And while the traditional ratio
of the vegetables is two to one to one,
with twice the amount of onions to celery and carrot,
you can also tweak this flavor base to your liking.
So once those veggies are all diced up,
transfer them to a bowl,
which we'll take to the stove here in a second.
All right, onto the star ingredient in this recipe,
the cabbage.
You'll need half of a small to medium-sized cabbage,
or about six to eight cups of chopped cabbage.
Just slice your cabbage half into quarters,
remove the core, and then chop it up.
The size of cabbage can vary drastically,
especially in the US,
where we seem to have gigantic vegetables,
and I've even gotten 10 cups
from a half of a cabbage before.
The good news is that this recipe is really flexible,
but if you find yourself with a lot of extra cabbage,
that's okay, you can just whip up my sauteed cabbage recipe
over on my website.
Now I'm a big fan of cabbage because it's both economical
and it's an exceptionally healthy ingredient.
It's loaded with nutrients, antioxidants, and fiber,
so it's great for digestion.
As a cruciferous vegetable,
it's an anti-inflammatory superstar.
And while cabbage soups have trended for weight loss
because cabbage is low in calories,
you know I'm not a fan of detoxes and quick fixes.
So I say, just enjoy this cabbage soup
for the vegetarian goodness that it offers.
Just to show you how much cabbage I got from my half,
it's a little over eight cups,
so I'll just add eight cups to the soup today,
and save the rest to add to recipes throughout the week.
And the last ingredient that you need to prep
is fresh parsley.
You know I love fresh herbs in my recipes,
because they're an easy way to really elevate the flavor
of whatever it is you're making.
So chop up about a quarter cup or so of that,
and place it in a small bowl.
All right, it's time to get cooking,
and the good news is that after you prep those ingredients,
the soup comes together really quickly.
Just add a couple tablespoons of olive oil
to a large pot on medium-high heat,
and dump in the onions, carrot, and celery.
Cook these for about four to five minutes
or until the vegetables have started to soften,
then add two minced garlic cloves, and the spices,
which includes half a teaspoon of dried oregano,
half a teaspoon of dried basil, and half a teaspoon of salt.
Give that a stir for another minute,
then add the cabbage and let it sweat for five minutes.
And make sure to stir frequently
so that all of the cabbage pieces get nice and soft.
(cool orchestra music)
Pour in four cups of vegetable broth,
and one 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes.
And you can use plain diced tomatoes,
diced tomatoes with basil, or fire-roasted diced tomatoes.
And give that a stir.
Now, if you have a lot of cabbage like I do today,
you can always add a little bit more vegetable broth
or water for a more brothy soup.
And then just let it simmer uncovered for 10 minutes
or until the vegetables have softened to your liking.
Once it's done simmering,
remove the cabbage soup from the heat,
add the quarter cup of chopped parsley,
one to two tablespoons of lemon juice,
and I don't really measure this,
I just squeeze some lemon
and then taste it to see if it's enough.
And then also add some cracked black pepper.
Give it one final stir, and that's it.
That's how easy it is to make cabbage soup.
The fresh aromas that fill your kitchen
when you make this cabbage soup
are enough to get anyone craving a warm nourishing bowl.
And just look at all of that veggie goodness
you get in a big ladle full of soup.
To serve this cabbage soup, just scoop it into a bowl,
and try not to spill as I did, but that's okay,
I'll just zoom in so you can't see it.
And then finish it off with a fresh sprinkle of parsley
and a little extra cracked black pepper.
(cool orchestra music)
I hope you guys enjoyed this recipe today.
And if you did, make sure to hit that like button,
share it with your family and friends,
and I will see you again in the next video.