Free-Style Cabbage Soup

I love food – I love cooking – but I hate following recipes and despise measuring ingredients even more! Then I discovered how easy it is to make what I call “free-style” soups. By “free-style” I mean adding together a bunch of ingredients without measuring or looking up a recipe. If you’ve never tried free-styling now is a great time to start!

Below is my own free-style recipe for Cabbage Soup. There’s NO measuring, so if you’re in a cabbage mood, use plenty of cabbage and less potatoes. If you’re in a potato mood, use less cabbage and more potatoes, same with carrots, etc. You get the idea – make it to fit “you.” The soup can be as hearty as you want it to be by adding more or less vegetables.

This recipe also contains an abundance of beneficial veggies: Cooked GREEN CABBAGE is high in Vitamin C plus has fiber, potassium, magnesium and more. CARROTS are loaded with Vitamin A and beta-carotene to help strengthen bones, AND Vitamin K, calcium and more! GREEN PEPPERS are high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory plant compounds, Vitamin C and more! POTATOES have Vitamins B and C, plus iron and other nutrients loaded into their skin – so DON’T peel the potatoes!

FREE-STYLE CABBAGE SOUP: Tailor the amount of each ingredient to your personal liking. This is a hearty soup — I use 2 cups broth and 1 to 1-1/2 cup ingredients:

– Green cabbage – shredded

– Carrots – sliced or diced

– Potatoes WITH skins – diced

– Green pepper – diced

– Chicken broth (use low fat and/or low sodium to make it super healthy) or use vegetable broth

OPTIONAL: leftover cooked chicken(shredded), diced onion, dash of garlic, dash or two of oregano, black pepper.

Add all the ingredients to the broth.

Simmer until all the vegetables are tender, serve.

TIP: Serve with crusty bread OR grab some Irish Soda Bread. Since soda bread tends to be dry, try warming it up and serving it with butter and honey (soda bread with butter/honey also goes good with a cup of tea).

EXPERIMENT with your own Free-Style Soup on a moment’s notice using the soup ideas below:

Stock Your Pantry with:

Chicken, vegetable or beef broth OR bouillon cubes.

Rice and/or noodles.

In Your Freezer:

Keep assorted vegetables or bags of mixed vegetables.

From Your Fridge:

Use leftover meat and/or vegetables.

Soup is one of the easiest things to make and can help you use up leftovers. Once you start experimenting, you’ll come up with your own combinations and ideas.