Hearty Cabbage Soup is hearty, yes, but hearty doesn’t mean heavy. This is a light, brothy soup that’s big on flavor and texture. Serve it with a hunk of crusty bread and it’s a meal – you’ll want nothing else. It’s so satisfying.
Healthy, too! This soup would be fantastic with ground beef, of course, but opting for ground turkey and TVP instead actually improves this soup because the subtle flavors aren’t overwhelmed by the protein. The sweetness of the cabbage, the slight acidity of the tomatoes, the brightness of the cumin and fennel seeds – simply delicious, and guilt-free!
This is one of those dishes that helps me forget that we’re limiting our intake of saturated fats these days. Actually, I don’t really forget, but I most certainly don’t care. If I have Hearty Cabbage Soup for supper, I’m not missing a thing.
Hearty Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
- 1 sweet onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ large head of cabbage
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1/2 cup TVP
- 1 t salt
- 1 t ground cumin
- 1 t thyme
- 1 t fennel seeds
- 4 ounces tomato paste
- 1 quart fresh, diced tomatoes
- 4 cups beef broth
- fresh parsley, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Prep veg and hydrate the TVP – Peel and dice the onion. Peel and mince the garlic. Remove the outer leaves and the core from the cabbage. Chop into bite-sized pieces. Core the tomatoes, and give them a rough chop – enough to fill a quart jar. Soften the TVP according the package instructions.
- Build the soup base – Heat the oil in your soup pot, then add the ground turkey. Cook, stirring to break up the turkey, until it just begins to brown, then add the salt, cumin, thyme, and fennel seeds. Continue cooking until the turkey is cooked through, then add the onions and garlic, and cook until the onions are softened. Stir in the softened TVP, and then the tomato paste, so that everything is evenly distributed.
- Simmer the soup – Stir in the tomatoes, beef broth, and chopped cabbage. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium and simmer until the cabbage is very, very soft, about 40 minutes. While the soup is simmering, chop the parsley.
- Garnish and serve – Remove from the heat and after the soup has cooled a bit, taste the broth and add salt and pepper, as needed. Garnish with chopped parsley, and serve.
INGREDIENT NOTES:
If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, you can use canned, diced tomatoes. Two cans of Muir Glen diced tomatoes and a cup of water sub in nicely.
And I can’t resist the opportunity to let you know how much better home-grown cabbage is than store-bought (on a good year, that is). It’s so crunchy and sweet, and this year we had no insect damage until very late in the season. If you don’t have a garden, do yourself (and your local farmer) a favor, and pick up a head of fresh cabbage. It makes such a difference.
Finally, in case you’re not familiar with it, TVP stands for Textured Vegetable Protein. It’s a fantastic soy-based protein source, often used as a substitute for ground meat. You buy it in a dehydrated state and simply rehydrate it before adding it to your dish. Once rehydrated, the texture is remarkably similar to cooked ground beef, turkey, or chicken. I don’t use it as a meat substitute, but I do try to augment my cooking with a cup or so of TVP where possible. It adds texture and nutrients – TVP is low in calories but high in protein, fiber, and several important vitamins and minerals. It’s not absolutely necessary in this Hearty Cabbage Soup, but it’s good and good for you. Why not try it?
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