Soups are my go to food for much of winter. Making soup is an easy way to get a lot of nutrients packed into one meal, it is nice and warm, and it is easy to make extra and take the leftovers for lunch or put up in the freezer to have on hand for one of those really busy evenings that could easily end in ordering a pizza. There 4 kinds of soup that I love and make often. However, this winter has been extra cold and I was getting sick of my standards. So, I actually opened one of my cookbooks to the soup section and spotted a recipe for "Quick Red Cabbage Soup"(Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Veggie Meals) This recipe in particular stood out for me because I LOVE cabbage. I am not sure if my love of cabbage comes from my German heritage or my Irish heritage-maybe both. Anyhow, I started reading the ingredients: apples, onions, red cabbage, crushed tomatoes, veggie broth, and pickling spice. I lost interest. Then, today, red cabbage was on sale at the grocery store and I figured I should try the recipe. Even if it flopped I could afford to give it away or get rid of it because it costs next to nothing to make. I started cooking it and as the soup simmered it began to smell better than anything I have cooked in a very long time.
It is preservative free as I used the crushed tomatoes and veggie broth that I had made and canned myself as well as using fresh cabbage instead of canned cabbage. It is surprisingly filling, and the broth has a tangy sweet and sour flavor. It is a wonderful break from the more traditional soups. If you are a meat eater, it would make a good side dish for pork or chicken. It would also be tasty with some rye toast. All-in-all I give this soup a big fat 10. Below is a link to the recipe on Rachael Ray's website. Just keep in mind that to make it extra healthy you should use fresh, preservative free, and organic ingredients.
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=2446
