CABBAGE, VEGETABLE AND WHITE BEAN SOUP

With having lots of ripe tomatoes to use, I thought I would make a soup using about six tomatoes along with cabbage, beans and vegetables.  I had bought a big green cabbage from the farmer's market which also needed to be eaten.  To add some flavour and variety to the soup, I decided to sauté several slices of bacon with the onions and garlic before adding the rest of the vegetables and stock.  I also had fresh basil and parsley so that was added to the soup.  I used dry northern beans but you can use canned or other white beans in the recipe.  I soaked the beans overnight to ease the cooking time.  My go to pot for making soups has been an electric pressure cooker and I cooked the soup on medium pressure for 25 minutes.  The soup turned out well and it will be great for lunches for the next number of days.

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium-large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
5 strips of uncooked bacon, chopped (optional)
2 tbsp oil (if not using bacon)
1 cup of dry white beans soaked overnight in water OR 1 can (19 ozs) of white beans
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
6 tomatoes, chopped
4 cups of cabbage, chopped
6 -7 cups of broth, vegetable or chicken
handful of each - fresh parsley and basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a large soup pot or using an electric pressure cooker, sauté the onion and garlic with the bacon or oil on medium heat for 10 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients. If you need to add more broth because it looks thick you can.  The tomatoes will also add some liquid to the soup. If cooking on a stove top, increase the heat to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for 2 hours if using dry beans. You can reduce in cooking time in half if using canned beans.   If using an electric pressure cooker, cook on medium pressure for 25 minutes if using dry beans or 15 minutes if using canned beans.  Makes 8 servings.

SALMON VEGETABLE CHOWDER

While doing the weekly shopping one weekend, I picked up a package of two fillets of wild salmon.   One of the fillets would have been ample but all of the packages had at least two fillets and I knew that there would be leftovers.  I grilled the fish on the barbecue and of course had leftovers.  I could have frozen one of the fillets before cooking it but I didn't think of it at the time.  With the leftovers, I decided to make a salmon vegetable chowder to have for a supper meal.  The soup is freezable and I could always freeze single portions for future lunches.  Adding a side salad and some toasted french baguette bread made a nice meal.

Chowder in the soup pot cooling off. 

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp oil

1 medium size onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 medium size carrots, chopped

2 medium size potatoes, diced

1/2 coloured pepper, diced

3 tbsp flour

4 cups of broth, chicken or vegetable

1 pound of cooked salmon, chopped into small pieces

1 cup milk

one handful of chopped herbs - parsley, dill

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the oil on medium high in a large soup pot.  Add the garlic and onion and reduce the heat to medium.  Saute for three to four minutes.  Add the celery, carrots, potatoes and pepper to the pot and continue to saute for about five minutes.  Reduce the temperature to low.  Add the flour and combine with the vegetables.  Add the salmon and the broth, increase the heat to high and reduce it to low once the chowder starts to boil.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Add the herbs and milk.  Stir and finish off with pepper and salt to taste.  Serves 6.