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.