Hearty Cabbage and Potato Soup

by Linda Tom

I’m basically a lazy cook. I rarely bother with recipes that have more than 10 ingredients and if I can get away with a single pot, better still. But when you’re a lazy cook who cares about using fresh, wholesome ingredients – it’s a challenge. Between the convenience of opening a can of broth versus making it from scratch, I’ve learned that to be a healthy, lazy cook, sometimes you’ve got do a bit of groundwork.

Take this cabbage and potato soup recipe  – practically a meal in itself, it can be whipped up in under 40 minutes and uses ingredients that are probably sitting in your pantry. Need I add that this soup gets even better the next day? Ta-dah, that’s one less meal to plan for. Even on the hottest of evenings, it’s nice to come home to a humble supper of soup, bread and olive oil (first cold pressing, of course).

I will, however, take the time to make stock. As much as I like the convenience of canned or powdered broths, they tend to be loaded with scary additives and are way too salty for my taste. So if you really love home-made soup, it’s smart to keep carrots, onions and celery in the fridge  – these three ingredients form the classic backbone of any stock.

How long does it take? I usually set aside 1 hour to make a pot of basic veggie stock and freeze it in batches for later use. To round out the flavor of the stock, add some salt, pepper corns, a bay leaf and some vegetable scraps and peels from the past week. Sure, home-made stock takes a bit of planning, but I guarantee that your soup will be much, much better.

CABBAGE AND POTATO SOUP

Splash of extra virgin olive oil

Pinch of salt

2 medium potatoes (around 200 gms), skin on, chopped into bite size pieces

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp ground cumin (or to taste)

5 cups vegetable stock

1 cup chickpeas (if using canned, drain and rinse well)

1/2 medium cabbage, thinly sliced

1 cup green beans, cut into 5cm sections

Spring onions, chopped

1) In a heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the potatoes and salt, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

2) Add garlic, onions and cumin, cook for another 2 minutes.

3) Add the vegetable stock and chickpeas, bring to a simmer. Stir in cabbage and green beans and cook for another 2 minutes or until tender. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with a topping of spring onions and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Serves 4