cabbage soup
So I'm making cabbage soup, chopping me some cabbage, and little fingers reach up - of course right while I"m choppin' EEK - and grab some cabbage. "MM, mama, this is good! It's sweet, like fruit!" says the girl child.
Sweet? Smels sulfury, bleck. So I taste, sure enough sweet. Maybe not like fruit but definitely sweet. Then the sulfury taste gets me, and I'm scrambling for SOMETHING to rid that from my mouth ... thank goodness for the other veggies.
But hell, if the kiddo likes more raw veggies, I'm all for it. She did that with cauliflower too. Not sure where this child came from - must be the papa genes.
...
So he asks for cabbage soup. You must first understand that his definition of cabbage soup comes from a memory of someone pre-surgery losing fat to keep him or herself safe in the O-R. Cabbage and broth.
Well, while I"m all for losing fat - can you sing me halelujah? - I'm not about the 'bag and broth. So my cabbage soup looks like vegetable soup, with a white cabbabe majority and a colorful melting pot minority of peppers, carrots, green beans, and whatever other vegetables might be sitting around, looking guilty. The first time, he was suspicious. Had to pull out a nutrition guide to prove this was a fat-free soup.
He believed.
He ate.
He was content.
He wanted this for a week. Well, I need a little more - hence the garbanzos. I find out, 6 months later, he's not quite into chick-peas as we all thought. So this time it's pintos. He's all for the pintos, little mexicali introduction there So today's is a little sassy, stewey, tasty cabbagey.
...
bout 1/3 cabbage, cut into little thin slices (think those narrow egg noodles)
2 small onions, sliced long and half-moon
3 carrots, cut into 1/2, 1/2 again, then sliced ... ok, that means dreiecks. /_\ :)
Handful of snow pea pods that were hanging out in the fridge, chopped
spoon o' garlic
handful green beans, chopped
one red and one yellow pepper, chopped (sans a few slices that went to the boy child) (love these veggie-crzy kids!)
think that's it ...
about 6-8 cups vegetable broth
dash shoyu (soy sauce to you haoles)
1 T sesame oil
1 T butter 'cause it's good
dash Maggi
parsley
salt and pepper
cayenne 'cause the spice heats up your bod
1/3 cup barley
1 can pinto beans, rinsed
I sauted the onions and cabbage in the butter and oil, then added the carrots for a while with a cup of the broth until it was tender. Then I dumped everything else in and ooked it for a while.
I've found that sauteing the cabbage first gives it a better flavor and texture - I choped it into squares the first time I et it, but sauted (whatever shape) it really makes me think I'm eating thick egg noodles. I can get past that I"m eating cabbage. Strange but true ...
I'm a big fan of cayenne. Holdover from growing up; my bother eats it for breakfast. The nice spice is supposed to help boost the metabolism, too - also a big fan of this.
Note: oolong tea has that effect too - gives your metabolism a 10% boost for about 10-12 hours after drinking a cup; green tea has a similar effect, but only a 4% boost for like 4-6 hours
But the soup is filling, healthy and the more veggies the merrier! Beans add a nie protein and flavor, the barley gives your teeth something interesting to work with. I've used leftover veggies from the night before (use a lot of Calif. mix) or whatever is hanging out. I'll generally use a can of stewed tomatoes too, but he is watching his sodium too and has pointed out to me many times that there is a lot of sodium in canned tomatoes. I told him too bad in normal, everyday cooking; but didn't want to upset him on the request food :)
Yummy stuff! Here's to no fat!
Sweet? Smels sulfury, bleck. So I taste, sure enough sweet. Maybe not like fruit but definitely sweet. Then the sulfury taste gets me, and I'm scrambling for SOMETHING to rid that from my mouth ... thank goodness for the other veggies.
But hell, if the kiddo likes more raw veggies, I'm all for it. She did that with cauliflower too. Not sure where this child came from - must be the papa genes.
...
So he asks for cabbage soup. You must first understand that his definition of cabbage soup comes from a memory of someone pre-surgery losing fat to keep him or herself safe in the O-R. Cabbage and broth.
Well, while I"m all for losing fat - can you sing me halelujah? - I'm not about the 'bag and broth. So my cabbage soup looks like vegetable soup, with a white cabbabe majority and a colorful melting pot minority of peppers, carrots, green beans, and whatever other vegetables might be sitting around, looking guilty. The first time, he was suspicious. Had to pull out a nutrition guide to prove this was a fat-free soup.
He believed.
He ate.
He was content.
He wanted this for a week. Well, I need a little more - hence the garbanzos. I find out, 6 months later, he's not quite into chick-peas as we all thought. So this time it's pintos. He's all for the pintos, little mexicali introduction there So today's is a little sassy, stewey, tasty cabbagey.
...
bout 1/3 cabbage, cut into little thin slices (think those narrow egg noodles)
2 small onions, sliced long and half-moon
3 carrots, cut into 1/2, 1/2 again, then sliced ... ok, that means dreiecks. /_\ :)
Handful of snow pea pods that were hanging out in the fridge, chopped
spoon o' garlic
handful green beans, chopped
one red and one yellow pepper, chopped (sans a few slices that went to the boy child) (love these veggie-crzy kids!)
think that's it ...
about 6-8 cups vegetable broth
dash shoyu (soy sauce to you haoles)
1 T sesame oil
1 T butter 'cause it's good
dash Maggi
parsley
salt and pepper
cayenne 'cause the spice heats up your bod
1/3 cup barley
1 can pinto beans, rinsed
I sauted the onions and cabbage in the butter and oil, then added the carrots for a while with a cup of the broth until it was tender. Then I dumped everything else in and ooked it for a while.
I've found that sauteing the cabbage first gives it a better flavor and texture - I choped it into squares the first time I et it, but sauted (whatever shape) it really makes me think I'm eating thick egg noodles. I can get past that I"m eating cabbage. Strange but true ...
I'm a big fan of cayenne. Holdover from growing up; my bother eats it for breakfast. The nice spice is supposed to help boost the metabolism, too - also a big fan of this.
Note: oolong tea has that effect too - gives your metabolism a 10% boost for about 10-12 hours after drinking a cup; green tea has a similar effect, but only a 4% boost for like 4-6 hours
But the soup is filling, healthy and the more veggies the merrier! Beans add a nie protein and flavor, the barley gives your teeth something interesting to work with. I've used leftover veggies from the night before (use a lot of Calif. mix) or whatever is hanging out. I'll generally use a can of stewed tomatoes too, but he is watching his sodium too and has pointed out to me many times that there is a lot of sodium in canned tomatoes. I told him too bad in normal, everyday cooking; but didn't want to upset him on the request food :)
Yummy stuff! Here's to no fat!