Cabbage Soup

The unpredictability of midwestern weather is truly exemplified by the unexpected summer thunderstorms. It can pour down all morning making you walk through deep streams of water to get to work, and by the time you leave for home, the sun would have dried everything up so well, it’d make you wonder if the rain that had completely drenched you from head to toe, really happened - well, unless your feet are still frozen cold from wearing wet shoes all day! Oh well.. I really do like rain, so no complaints!

It’s those rainy days that make me crave a comforting bowl of soup. As much as I like indulging in creamy soups such as broccoli-cheddar or tomato basil bisque, nothing beats a delicious hot broth-based soup. I make cabbage soup often, adding whatever else I have on hand. Corn is one of my favorite things to add to this soup to get a burst of juicy sweetness every now and then. Sometimes I add broccoli to the same soup, even chunks of potato or some boiled chickpeas. The key to tying all these flavorful ingredients together is the broth that’s infused with ginger, garlic and bay leaves. You could also add peppercorns, or cloves if you prefer. I like to make my own vegetable stock*, but a readymade one or even water could be used in this soup.

Ingredients: (~4-5 servings)

½ medium cabbage - chopped

½ - ¾ cup chopped onion

½ red pepper - chopped
1 small carrot - thinly sliced
¼ cup corn kernels (~½ ear of corn)
2 bay leaves
1 garlic clove - minced
½ inch piece of ginger - grated
Salt and/or soy sauce - to taste

~3 cups water/stock* (See note at the bottom for making homemade stock)

½ - 1 tsp oil

Chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Heat a little bit of oil, add onions, pepper, ginger, garlic and bay leaves, and sauté over medium-high heat until onions are translucent. Add corn, pepper, cover and cook for a minute until veggies are slightly softened. Add cabbage, mix well and saute for a few minutes. Add 2 cups of vegetable stock or water, season with salt or soy sauce and ground black pepper. Soy sauce is especially a good choice if you’re using water instead of stock. Increase the heat, let the soup come to a boil and add more stock as necessary. Add chopped parsley if desired.

 

Serve hot alongside some hearty toasted bread or a light salad with fresh greens.

~Gayatri

*Note: An easy way to make vegetable stock at home is to save vegetable scraps in an airtight bag or container in the freezer. That way, when you need some stock, all you have to do is add them to water, let it boil and reduce for some time, strain and use in your recipe. I’ve even used ice cube trays to freeze extra stock. The good thing about this is that you can control what you put in it and can even flavor it as you like - I like to add ginger and/or some whole spices when I’m making the stock.

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Healthy Broth Sautéed Mushrooms

Mushrooms are generally on my weekly shopping list, and I like to incorporate them in various dishes such as quiches, crepes, curries etc. But if I am able to get my hands on beautiful fresh wild mushrooms, I prefer to cook them without a lot of additional ingredients to let their flavor really come through. Some of the best ways to do that are to stir fry or sauté the mushrooms by themselves or along with some vegetables.

I love stir-frys and simple sautés. These are quick ways to prepare veggies without cooking out all of their nutrients, while boosting flavor with seasoning and softening the vegetables just enough. However, these techniques generally involve using heated oil, thus bringing down the overall nutritional value. That’s where the water or broth sauté method saves the day!

Before I jump into how this sautéeing technique works, let’s take a look at a few cooking methods. Moist-heat cooking methods such as boiling, steaming, poaching etc. use a medium such as water, broth or steam where the pressure and temperature of the medium enables the cooking process. These are great for preserving the ingredient flavors and getting a uniform cook. However if a crispy texture or nice caramelization is desired, generally dry cooking methods using air or oil/fat are used. Sautéeing, frying, grilling, roasting etc. fall under this category. Some of these methods make use of heat transfer via conduction from the cooking vessel in addition to the heat from the cooking medium.

For the broth based sauté method, the idea is to start with a little bit of liquid in the pan, get it nice and hot before adding the vegetables, and keep deglazing the pan with the liquid as needed while tossing the vegetables as they cook. So this is kind of a combination technique using the oil free benefits of moist-heat cooking while using the conduction from the pan for browning the vegetables if desired. This method works best in a non-stick pan, but I have used cast iron skillets without any issues, especially if I’m not looking for a lot of crispiness or caramelization.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

8 oz mushrooms (I used Oyster and Shiitake)

½ - 1 tsp freshly grated ginger

1-2 Bay leaves

Vegetable broth/stock or water (preferably homemade without added salt)

Salt, crushed black pepper

Heat ~2 Tbsp broth in a pan over medium-high heat. Once it starts to simmer, add bay leaf and garlic. Let the flavors get infused for a minute or so, adding more broth (~1 Tbsp at a time) as needed.

Add the mushrooms when there is enough liquid in the pan to completely coat the bottom in a thin layer and it is simmering. Toss the mushrooms to coat with the broth, cover and cook for ~1 minute to let the them sweat. Remove lid, add more broth if the pan is getting dry and continue to cook uncovered for a couple minutes. I ended up using about ⅓ cup broth by the time the mushrooms were cooked, but this will depend on the type of pan, heat intensity and the mushrooms (or any vegetables) that you’re using. Season with salt & pepper, and add any other seasoning, herbs of your choice. Toss well and take the pan off the heat.

Discard bay leaves and serve warm as a delicious side! I served these sautéed mushrooms with simple mashed potatoes - mash boiled red potatoes (with skin) while still hot, add skim milk, butter (optional) to soften, and season with salt & pepper.

These are also a wonderful addition to pasta or salads.

~Gayatri

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