Modifying this Cabbage Soup Recipe

#1

Have been thinking about making (and modifying) this soup recipe since reading it last week:

Modifications I’m considering:
Sautéing some Field Roast Apple/Sage sausages (http://fieldroast.com/product/smoked-apple-sage-sausage/) and then cooking the cabbage and onion in the remaining oil.
Adding potatoes (I have Yukon Golds at the moment) for a thicker, more hearty finished dish.
Eliminating the finishing “toasts” when serving.
(Yes, I am really deviating from the original recipe. )

Questions:

  • Will the fresh thyme work with the sage in the sausages? (I’ve not cooked with these before.) Should I also add fresh sage?
  • Should the potatoes be boiled separately or added to the cabbage/onion mix when the vegetable broth is added?
  • Would Beyond Bouillon work as the broth or should I buy some broth (don’t have time to make some today)?

I may be really over-thinking this, eh?

Cabbage, Potato, and (Vegan!) Sausage Soup - aka, "That Beige Soup"
(erica) #2

I make something similar, with diced kielbasa, diced apple, onion, cabbage, caraway, garlic, and a splash of cider vinegar at the end. I generally don’t like caraway but the recipe inspiring my version used it, and on subsequent batches, I found it was better with. A half tsp for three quarts of soup, added at the same time as the broth.

Absolutely cook the veg in the rendered sausage fat. Better flavor if you cook the potato in the broth. I use wild rice, barley, or unsoaked navy beans rather than potato, simmering in the soup until they are tender. Sometimes I use apple cider rather than diced apple but not until the starch component is cooked through, because acid slows the softening of vegetable ingredients. If I have carrots, I include some, sliced.
Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base is great for such a soup, but hold off on the tamari until you taste the salt level of the finished soup.

#3

Perfect timing, as these arrived whilst I was reading your comments:

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(erica) #4

I didn’t know this base exists! I have used many of their bases, including their reduced sodium chicken, organic chicken, and vegetable. The organic’s flavor was weak, requiring quadrupling the amount, or thereabouts. I find the vegetable base has a lot of umami. If you have used this, how does it compare to the chickenless chicken?

#5

I think this is the chickenless chicken base - at least that’s what I’d intended to order!

I normally use the “Seasoned Vegetable Base” - we were discussing these on another thread and someone (my memory says @Ttrockwood) suggested the “No Chicken Base” was worth trying, so I ordered some.

In looking in my pantry, I also have their “Roasted Garlic Base”, which I don’t recall purchasing and haven’t opened. No idea what I’ll do with it.

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#6

Haha, i do the same thing when trying to modify a recipe!

Yes, use the chickenless base.
No, no additional sage needed.
Yes, adding thyme would be great here, but if you don’t have it don’t worry about it.
I’m kinda lazy so i would just chop the potatoes in smaller spoon sized pcs and cook them in the soup- they will pick up the flavors of the broth and such and you can smoosh a few to thicken it if you want to.
And then of course top the finished bowls with some nooch when serving.
Sounds delicious to me!!

#7

I really like the No Chicken Base and the Roasted Garlic base (which oddly isn’t listed as being vegetarian, although it doesn’t seem to contain any animal products). I’ve never liked their straight vegetable base for most things because it’s too tomatoey for me.

#8

Wow - just used the No Chicken Base in the filling for a vegan chicken pot pie (using Beyond Meat Grilled Chicken Strips, which are made from peas, I think): this tastes like really good chicken broth!

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What do you use the Roasted Garlic Base in/with?