So here’s one for those times where the wallet looks awfully empty. Or maybe you are saving up for something big, or you had a big expense that was unavoidable but not planned. You look into your pockets and realize, hmm, maybe the steak will have to wait, oh and maybe the sausage too… Well, no worries, you can still make yourself an utterly tasty and nourishing soup. ‘Weniger is mehr’ or in English ‘less is more’ when it comes to soups. As a side note, a lot of stores will cut a head of cabbage in half for you, so you don’t have to eat cabbage until March

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 1/2 head of savoy cabbage (that’s the frilly, blistery leafed kind)
• 4 stalks of celery
• 1/2 cup chana dahl*
• 2 cups vegetable stock or rapunzel vegan bouillon cube and water
• 2 -4 cup water ( I make this by eye, using my 5 qt pot, just fill until all the veggies are covered.
• up to 1 tsp salt (depending on your broth, if it’s not salt broth add 1 tsp)
• Optional: other veggies that lie around your fridge looking for a good home that would be yummy added to this: Carrots, red bell pepper, potato,

* Chana Dahl is an Indian split chick pea, it has the lowes glycemic index known to man, specially as far as legumes go. You could also use a can of beans, but the chana dahl cooks rather quick and adds a creamy thickness to the soup all while remaining (al dente) intact.

Make sure you stir it up well before serving, the chana dahl tends to be all on the bottom. I noticed that after having a mostly cabbage bowl, then a mostly chana dahl, made for a protein rich second serving

Yep, it’s a green soup

Directions

1. Peel and chop the onion. Cut the cabbage into 1″ thick slices. Dice the celery.
2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in your soup pot, add the onion and cook until translucent and soft, turn up the heat a bit to give it just a hint of brown, then add the celery and cabbage. Stir and cook until the darker cabbage leaves turn a bright green (see picture)
3. Deglaze pan by adding the broth and the water to cover the veggies, stir to loose any bits that might have stuck to the bottom.
4. Add the chana dahl
5. Cook until chana dahl is softened and gives easy when  pressed with a fork, about 40 minutes.
6. Serve with a hearty slice of bread, or of course you could also hear up some kielbasa or other sausage right in the pot (make sure you cook raw sausage all the way)
7. Leftovers may need to be thinned out, as I discovered. I wonder if the chana dahl is absorbing the water. Remedy? Just add some water to your ‘stoup’ (Stew+Soup)

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