My mom made this soup and brought me some the last time she came to visit me, and I liked it so much I asked her to teach me to make it. I used some of the tomatoes she grew and gave me to make my own batch. She cobbled together a few different recipes from her collection and sent me all of them, including her handwritten version. I fleshed out the directions a bit more and added bay leaf because it sounded good. I never liked beef vegetable soup from a can very much but I LOVE this. I also love that it doesn't taste like canned tomato sauce.
There's just nothing quite like your mom bringing you homemade food even when you are a grown adult. :)
Notes:
- I used chicken and onion broth because I didn't have beef broth/bouillon when I cooked it. You can use a vegetable based broth for vegetarian/vegan soup.
- I used only the beef but really want to try it with beef + rice sometime. You can leave out the meat and make it with just rice for a vegetarian/vegan version. Make sure to add extra water or broth if you add rice because the rice absorbs liquid, and you want it to still have some broth after the rice cooks.
- I used about 1 tbsp dried parsley instead of fresh because I didn't have fresh.
------------------------
RECIPE:
Cabbage Roll Soup
from my mom
Serves 6
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 large onion, diced
6-8 cups chopped green cabbage (about 1 lb, about 2/3 of a medium head of cabbage)
2 tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp each dried basil and dried oregano (or 1 tsp Italian seasoning)
½ tsp salt
Black pepper to taste
4 cups vegetable or beef broth (more if you add rice, 5-6 cups total)
14 oz diced fresh tomato (canned is also OK)
3 tbsp brown sugar (cut down or omit if using canned tomatoes)
1 bay leaf
½ cup dry long grain white rice (optional)
1 lb ground beef (optional)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste
¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
Heat oil in soup pot. Add celery, carrot, and onion and sauté until softened and onions are translucent. Add garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and black pepper and stir to combine. Add cabbage and cook until cabbage has sweated (about 5 minutes), then add broth, tomatoes, sugar, bay leaf, and rice (if using). Bring to a boil, then turn down heat, cover, and let simmer for 10-15 minutes or until flavors have melded and rice is fully cooked. (If using rice, it will probably be more like 20 minutes.) If using ground beef, brown it in a separate pan while the soup is simmering, then set aside. Remove bay leaf from soup, then stir in lemon juice and parsley and browned ground beef (if using). Serve hot.
