A while back we were on one of our rare shopping excursions at HomeGoods. If you haven’t gotten hooked on their kitchen/gourmet foods department, you should. They’ve always got amazing infused oils, special salts and peppers, and ours has an unbelievably large selection of turmeric; in teas, powders, capsules, even coffee. No matter what we’re shopping for, I head to that department to see what treasures I can find.

Dried salami can be a treasure!

On this visit, I discovered some amazing dried salami. I bought one, not knowing what I’d do with it. But the description just screamed “you need to know what this tastes like!”

Then I bought a beautiful purple cabbage and came up with the following recipe. It’s rich, and winter-spirited. Definitely not one for a hot summer day. But if you’re looking for something unique to round out a special dinner, or like something tasty and colorful for lunch, give this cabbage soup a try.

Not able to get past the color? (You chicken you!) Feel free to use green cabbage, but keep in mind:

According to Healthline.com, purple cabbage “is richer in beneficial plant compounds that have been linked to health benefits, such as stronger bones and a healthier heart.” It can also reduce inflammation and helps protect against certain cancers… now is it easier to get past the color?

And why dried salami? Because I didn’t want to use bacon, and I’d bought this salami at the store and was dying to try it. To be honest, the wine added gave the salami a sour taste more appropriate to be served with cheese, but you live and learn. You really could substitute regular sausage, cubed ham or even shredded pork. I think next time I make this, I’ll be using apple chicken sausage. Chicken alone would probably not have a strong enough flavor to stand up to the cabbage. BUT, you can also leave the meat out! Leave a note in the comments below to let me know what you try. I’d love to hear how alternatives come out.

Purple Cabbage and Salami Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 TB lemon infused olive oil (I use this for everything!)
• 1/3 cup chopped salami or your choice of meat (make sure to remove any skin from the slices)
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped onion (depends on your family’s preference for onion)
• 1 – 3 TB flour
• 32 oz vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms (I used rehydrated dried mushrooms)
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 2 stalks of celery, sliced
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 TB dried basil
• ½ TB dried thyme
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Bay leaf (1 large or 2-3 small)
• ¾ cup sour cream

Instructions:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan (which you’ll cook the soup in) over medium heat. Sautee the salami, onion, mushrooms and celery until onion and celery are tender
• Add 1 TB of flour and stir to coat well, then pour in the vegetable broth. Continue stirring and cooking another 3 minutes or so until slightly thickened and boiling. This step took me a while and I ended up adding another 2 TB of flour to get a thicker broth. Make a roux from a ¼ cup of the hot broth and the extra flour so you’re not ending up with lumps in your soup.
• Add cabbage, carrots, salt, and herbs and reduce heat to a simmer. Allow to cook for 20 – 25 minutes.
• Remove the bay leaf and stir in the sour cream. Allow to heat through before removing from the heat.

Serve!

This soup would be great with a few nice garlic croutons on top and maybe even another dollop of sour cream and a few fresh thyme leaves. Yummmm.

If you really want to make it easy, you can use pre-shredded cabbage and carrots, frozen chopped onion, sliced pepperoni, and you’ll cut the prep work pretty much entirely. This is a speedy soup and so yummy. It keeps in the fridge well for a few days and make about 6 portions.

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Feel free to read a few of my past posts as well to get a sense of what I write about.

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