The Walrus and the Carpenter

By Lewis Carroll

The time has come,’ the Walrus said,

      To talk of many things:

Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —

      Of cabbages — and kings —

And why the sea is boiling hot —

      And whether pigs have wings.’

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Nothing beats a warm and warming bowl of soup to chase away those chilly damp days of fall and winter. Cabbage White Bean Leek Soup is as delicious and comforting as they come.

Ahhhhh, the humble, ubiquitous cabbage. This cruciferous vegetable is present in almost every cuisine, in one variety or another. Cabbage can be fermented, baked into pastry, stuffed with meat or vegetables simmered in a sauce and eaten raw in slaw. Readily available and inexpensive, cruciferous vegetables are nutrient rich powerhouses. However, none of that would matter if they didn’t also taste wonderful when properly prepared.

Unfortunately, too many people have memories of smelly, over-cooked cabbage permeating school cafeterias and hesitate using it. But if you are one of those people, please give cabbage another chance. The shredded cabbage and leeks soften and just melt into the broth, resulting in a flavorful bowl of comfort and yumminess. The leeks and cabbage take on a sweetness when cooked this way, so adding a grated hard cheese with some saltiness to it like a pecorino or asiago is the perfect accompaniment. I know that vegan cheese options have come a long way in recent years, so if making this as a vegan option, I would strongly encourage adding a vegan cheese when serving.

We eat soup all year long. Hot soup in the spring, fall and winter and cold in the summer. Sometimes as a starter to a larger meal and more often as a meal in itself. My Cabbage White Bean Leek Soup recipe should be viewed as a starting place. Made exactly as written, the end product will be wonderful. But, if you don’t have leeks, use onions or shallots. Not into cooking your own beans, use canned. More carrots? Sure, why not? No farro? No problem. Use potato, peeled and cubed or wheat berries or leave it out. Going vegan with the recipe? Use all oil or a vegan “butter” substitute, add two to three rounded tablespoons of nutritional yeast and leave out the parmesan rind.

In other words – don’t get bogged down in exactness. And don’t get too precious with the soup. While I eat with my eyes as well as my taste buds, this soup will still be delicious even without the large handful of fresh herbs that I have added at the end. Instead, just add a drizzle of a good, flavored olive oil when serving up this delicious soup.

So when you are ready, give Cabbage White Bean Leek Soup a go. You won’t be disappointed.

Recipe

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

2 pound green or white cabbage, trimmed and cut into shreds

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 large leeks, washed, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

2 large carrots, trimmed and sliced into thinnish rounds

1 good hunk of parmesan rind with some cheese attached (optional but recommended) OR 2 rounded Tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast

2 bay leaves

6 whole cloves

3 cups cooked white beans of choice (cannellini are my personal favorite)

8 to 10 cups (2 to 2.5 quarts) of veggie or chicken stock, preferably unsalted (or bean cooking liquid plus stock)

kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

3/4 cup uncooked farro, potatoes, wheat berries or barley

a large handful of fresh herbs (I used dill, parsley and thyme, but almost any will do) for serving

Directions

In a large stockpot, sauté leeks in the butter/oil on medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until softened.

Add in the sliced carrots, garlic and one teaspoon of salt. and sauté for 3 more minutes. Next in is the shredded cabbage. Sauté to soften, adding in about 1 cup of the liquid to help move things along.

Finally, add in the cooked beans, bay leaves, cloves and parmesan rinds, if using. Stir everything through and pour the stock and/or the bean liquid, if using, over all of the ingredients in the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Then cover the pot, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 to 40 minutes.

Uncover the pot, add in the farro and give a good stir to everything. Bring the mixture back to a boil, recover the pot and turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes more or until the farro or potato is tender and cooked. Taste the liquid and adjust your seasonings adding in the black pepper at this time.

When you are ready to serve, ladle soup into a bowl and top with lots of fresh, chopped herbs and a drizzle of a good olive oil. I love the Sciabica Mediterranean Medley. But any good olive oil that you like will do. Warm up a nice, crusty bread and dig in!

Cabbage often gets a bad rap, but this luscious soup just might change your mind. And best of all is that it keeps getting better, so go on and make it ahead for the week! The mercury is down and the winds have picked up here in Chicago. So what is more delicious on these cold darker days than a nourishing bowl of soup and some good bread. And the smell of this cabbage will lure you in – not have you heading for the hills.

I have made this soup for decades, but never actually wrote down the recipe before. So this blog is giving me the opportunity to not only save it for myself, but to pass it on. The origins of the soup are Eastern European, where my family came from. Since they were poor and living in a shtetl, it is doubtful that there would have been much meat in this soup. Therefore, it was not the star, but rather a flavoring. And it is likely that water was used instead of stock. I look on my version as a salute to my grandparents, but not a slavish rendition.

This is not one of my vegan recipes. But the meat could be left out and vegetable stock could sub for beef stock. It won’t be quite the same, but because of the many layers of flavors built in, a vegan version would still be delicious. While I rarely eat meat these days, small amounts are welcome occasionally in these colder months along with a little extra fat – in my food, not on me! I have not tried making Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup with one of the newer meat substitutes available, but if someone out there would like to try it, I’d love to hear how it turns out.

Below is my recipe, but it should be seen as a guide rather than as an absolute. Measurements in these things are a suggestion and can be adjusted to suit individual tastes. You will notice that rather than using a roux or other thickeners, I use ginger snaps. The snappier the better! Not only do they thicken the soup as they dissolve but they also add that warmth and spiciness that cuts through the richness of the beef, if used, and makes this soup interesting. So when looking for ginger snaps, please don’t go for really sweet cookies.

Some recipes use apple cider vinegar or sour salt (citric acid) to achieve the sour part of the taste profile. I tried the apple cider vinegar but found that I needed fresh lemon juice to gain the punch and proper balance to suit my palate. I have also successfully used sour salt.

This soup of humble origins will warm your soul – guaranteed. And the intoxicating aroma will make your house smell like fall. Thoughts of cuddling on a couch or in front of a fire won’t be far behind.

If I am feeling especially ambitious, I will bake a pumpkin, apple or pecan pie for dessert. But a lovely fruit crumble, Brown Betty or baked apple with zabaglione also would raise this to another level as a special dinner. And don’t forget the bread!

Recipe

Yield: About 10 servings

Ingredients

1 medium head of green cabbage – about 2.5 pounds that has been quartered, cored and thinly sliced

4 to 5 medium carrots, peeled and cut into medium chunks or thick circles

2 Tablespoons neutral oil like canola or sunflower

About 2 pounds of short ribs of beef, chuck roast or beef shank, if using

1 large onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

1 large bay leaf or 2 smaller

About 10 whole cloves plus optional additional ground cloves

kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

1.5 teaspoons ground allspice

1 to 1.5 cups of raisins

3 Tablespoons of dark or light brown sugar

Juice of 1 to 3 juicy lemons or a mixture of apple cider vinegar and lemon juice

About 12 cups of stock/water/bouillon or some mixture thereof. (I used 4 cups of unsalted beef stock, 2 bouillon cubes and the remaining 8 cups were water.)

12 to 20 ginger snaps – 2-inch diameter, depending on how thick you like your soup

Directions

If you are using meat and are making this ahead: generously salt and pepper the meat and place in a glass or stainless container or a heavy duty plastic bag. Allow to sit in the fridge ideally overnight but for at least 4 hours. Remove from the fridge about 30 minutes to an hour before cooking. (Okay, so that is the ideal and I did do it this time, but plenty of times I have made this and simply took my meat out about 30 minutes before cooking, salted it and then cooked. You will have delicious soup either way, but the meat that is salted overnight remains moister and more tender when cooked.)

In a large stockpot, add the 2 Tablespoons of oil and heat to a shimmer. If using meat, add it now. Do not move the meat around, but allow it to sear and brown well on each side. The first side takes about 5 minutes. Then using tongs, turn the pieces of meat over. The subsequent sides will take about 2 to 3 minutes each. When the meat is crusty and well-browned, remove the meat to a plate or bowl. If there is a lot of excess fat in the pan, drain it off, leaving the brown bits and about 1 Tablespoon of the oil.

Now add in the onions and 1 teaspoon of salt. Allow the onions to soften and begin to lightly brown. This should take about 8 minutes.

You will now add the bay leaf, whole cloves and 1 teaspoon of ground allspice and tomato paste. Stir through the onions.

Add in the sliced cabbage and carrots and the canned tomatoes. It will look like a huge amount but the cabbage cooks down. As well as you can (tongs probably are easiest for this task), mix everything through with the spices, onions, tomatoes and tomato paste. You can add the stock to make it a bit easier to mix things. Layer in the meat if using and the remaining water with bouillon or additional stock.

Bring to a boil with the pot uncovered. Give a good stir, cover the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 2 hours or until the meat, if using, is starting to fall off of the bone.

Open the pot and give it a stir. Now add in your raisins and ginger snaps and mix through. Re-cover the pot and cook for another 15 minutes.

You are ready to add in the brown sugar and lemon juice to achieve that perfect sweet and sour balance. Start slowly. You can always add more but you cannot take it away once added. Taste and adjust your seasonings to your personal palate, adding more salt, pepper and allspice as required. Because I add raisins and ginger snaps, which do have some sugar, my brown sugar to lemon juice ratio is less than other recipes which tend to do 1 to 1. You decide for yourself how sweet or sour to make it.

Now enjoy!

This soup keeps well for several days and only gets richer with gentle reheating. It should also freeze well.