I had a similar craving a couple of weeks ago...
Browned beef in a tad of oil, added an onion and garlic, half a head of cabbage, chicken broth and water and a container of garden tomatoes, frozen with celery and onion....simmered and corrected the seasoning with brown sugar and a bit of vinegar....
Ate my fill for 2 days and froze the rest.
But I must have needed something because I gobbled it for 3 meals!
Linda C

Beanthere, I almost always just add it too the regular vegetable soup I make and it works well.

Portuguese Kale Soup

I like a mixture of cabbage and white beans in a soup, with chicken or duck shreds in a nice, rich chicken stock. Or, if I want something heartier, ham hocks. Onions, garlic, a few juniper berries, white pepper. I like potato in a cabbage soup too...cooked long enough that the sharp edges of the diced potatoes are rounding off and they are quite tender.

I don't really have a recipe.

One thing I do like to do when I make a cabbage soup is to long-simmer some of the cabbage in the stock and then add some more shortly before serving. This way you get the silky texture of long cooked cabbage with the body and slight crunch of slightly cooked. Also, it makes two different layers of cabbage flavor.

Jim, I had to smile. My husband is Portuguese, so I am familiar with that soup. Just never thought of subbing cabbage for the kale. (I think I imagined his great aunt rising from her grave and smacking my hands with a wooden spoon for taking liberties with tradtions. :D)

Good idea, though. I think with potatoes...and the extra hot chourico and lots and lots of garlic and red pepper.

I hope I'm not getting a cold or something. I usually crave hot and our soup when I'm coming down with a cold, and this is a similar kind of craving only with cabbage. Weird.

Your subconscious must have been craving Portuguese caldo verde because that's what you described perfectly in your initial post.

I find cabbage milder than kale, but it's a subjective thing.

Jim

One of my favorites soups is my cabbage soup. Ham, cabbage, onions, a couple jalapeno/serreno peppers, and a squirt of ketchup. Usually I go light on the ham and use a couple drops of liquid hickory smoke to kick the flavor. Very good the first day with the broth still clear. It does not really become great until the second day when the broth turns brown and takes on a sweetness. Reminds me of french onion soup. One of my "diet" soups because I make it thin but it is still filling with lots of flavor. When I want it more robust I add some kidney beans. Fresh cayenne peppers work but I prefer the greener flavor of jalapeno/serreno.

About:
6 quarts of water
1/2-3/4 of a cabbage chopped up
1 onion (more onion makes it sweeter)
pound of smoked ham chopped
2 hot peppers (more or less to taste)
1 lb bag of dry kidney beans (optional)
small squirt of catsup
two drops of liquid hickory smoke

Rinse the kidney beans well. Chop the veggies. Throw it all into a pot of water and boil for a couple hours. Done!

Everything a soup should be!

: )
lyra

I really like the WW 0 points Cabbage Soup. Sounds silly, especially if you are not counting calories/points/cards/whatevver, but it really is good!

Alexa

**********************************************************
0 Point Weight Watchers Cabbage Soup

Ingredients
3 cups Chicken broth, nonfat
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon Tomato paste
2 cups Cabbage, chopped
1/2 Yellow onion
1/2 cup Carrots, sliced
1/2 cup Green beans
1/2 cup Chopped zucchini
1/2 teaspoon Basil
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
2 Mushrooms (optional)
1/4 Bell pepper (optional)
Salt & pepper

Preparation
Spray pot with non stick cooking spray and saute onions and carrots for 5

minutes.

Add garlic, and saute 1 minute.

Add broth, tomato paste, cabbage, green beans, basil, oregano, salt and

pepper.

Simmer for a about 5-10 minutes until all vegetables are tender then add

the zucchini and simmer for another 5 or so minutes.

You can eat as much of this as you like.

6 servings

We usually don't make it that spidy, so maybe that's why I didn't think of it. Thanks for pulling it out of me subconscious. :D

I actually have all the ingredients, too, at least if I use potatoes rather than beans. Next grocery run isn't for a couple of weeks, so I'll put the other ideas aside for next time I get a craving.

Those are some great recipes everyone has posted. Jim - a friend of mine had just mentioned how much she loves her Portuguese Kale soup, but she was really evasive when I asked for the recipe(I hate that), so thank you for posting yours.

I had forgotten about the WW soup, I used to make that in a crock pot and eat it all the time. I havenn't had it in ages.....Hmmm, maybe that's why I'm up a few #s!

AM

Had a Paula Deen ham last week...the ham itself was fatty and flavorless and I heard others who bought then say the same, however I made a really LOVELY bean soup with the ham bone.

I did not follow a recipe but it involved simmering (not boiling) the ham bone with a bag of white beans, and a bay leaf.
The following day I skimmed the fat and removed the bone and added diced carrots, celery and onion. Then about 4 cups finely diced cabbage and jalepeno and the trimmings from the bone. One or 2 garlic cloves found their way into the pot as did a small can of tomato paste.
I hit it with lots of fresh ground pepper.

The soup was divine! Paula Deen can keep her ham though.

Cheers!
Susie

I make a Chinese style soup and add bok choy to it. I don't have a recipe for it, but the seasonings include garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili (or a Seranno). I generally make it with noodles and chicken stock, and occasionally I add a tablespoon of black vinegar. I separate the white part of the bok choy and cook that longer with the soup and then add the green part just before serving. It's not cabbage, but it's close, I think.

Lars

Renee, my borscht recipe has cabbage, but it has a lot of beets and I know how you feel about those. (grin)

I love cabbage, I ought to make it more often and I just don't think about it. It's not peppery or spicy, but this is one of Ashley's favorite soups. I never use the half and half, just whatever milk type is in the refrigerator.

Cream of Cabbage Soup
1 quart chicken broth (I use my home canned stuff)
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium head cabbage (3 pounds), shredded
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups half-and-half cream
1 cup milk
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Minced fresh parsley

In a large soup kettle or Dutch oven, combine broth, celery, cabbage, onion and carrot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour, salt and pepper; stir to form a smooth paste. Combine cream and milk; gradually add to flour mixture, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until thickened; continue cooking 1 minute longer. Gradually stir into vegetable mixture. Add ham and thyme and heat through. Garnish
with parsley.

Yield: 8-10 servings.

Ashley likes to stir in a spoonful of sour cream when it's served, I often sub my homemade yogurt for that and she doesn't complain.

Annie

" I never use the half and half, just whatever milk type is in the refrigerator."

After avoiding it for years, thinking it was not a good tasting product, I discovered that evaporated milk is excellent in a cream soup such as yours, or in chowders. It's handy to always have a few cans on hand.

Jim

You know me well, Annie. LOL! Beets are for me what carrots are to Ann. :) A shame, they're such pretty roots, and I WANT to like them.

Jim, I always have evaporated milk on hand, it's what my mother likes to drink in her coffee! Grandma always did too. I do buy evaporated skim milk, and I'll have to try it in a cream soup. I mostly just pick up my milk container and pour, I don't really like my soups extremely thick anyway and if they're a bit thin, I'll stir in some mashed potatoes.

Renee, I know how you feel about beets. I even sent you pickled beets, if I remember correctly. Couldn't sell you on those either!

Annie

I tried them! And they were less objectionable than any other pickled beets I'd tried. My chiropractor LOVED them. I jokingly told him I'd give him the rest of the jar for a free adjustment, and he agreed!

I've got, what?, another three years or so before I have to try them again?

If its any consolation your post and ensuing conversations that revolve around cabbage have sparked a mad need for my grandmother's bierock:) Gran is long past though so I'll have to make my version. Now that you have my mind on cabbage (and ground beef w/onions) I can barely wait to make it.

Kate

You guys aren't pregnant are you? You know what they say about odd cravings!!!!!!

LOL