This is our take on the "eat all you want Cabbage Soup" diet. We've made a flavorful soup with mostly vegetables, and a wee amount of flavorful sausage to give it a "little help" with flavor. We enjoy this for lunch, dinner, in a thermos. and keep it on hand for when we are hungry but want something low-calorie.
Equipment
Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
1linkSmoked sausage- fully cooked (such as Aidell's). Choose chicken, pork, or kielbasa as you choose. Our stats are for 1 link of chicken apple sausage
3tablespoonsExtra Virgin Olive Oil
3clovesGarlic
¼mediumOnion- chopped
1mediumPotato- peeled and diced into small cubes
1cupPeas- fresh or from frozen (see note)
1cupCorn- fresh or from frozen
2cupsCalifornia Vegetable Blend- Cauliflower, Broccoli and Carrots - fresh or from frozen
2cupsArtichoke Hearts- frozen (not canned with oil or other ingredients)
2cupsCabbage- rough chopped
1cupCelery- rough chopped, including leaves
1mediumTomato- rough chopped, seeds discarded
1tablespoonRanch Buttermilk Dressing powder- optional (see note)
1tablespoonAu Jus Powder- optional (see note)
1canSmall White Beans- drained (such as Navy or Cannellini)
32ouncesChicken Broth- low sodium
2cupsWater
Instructions
In the Instant Pot 8 quart pot, select "saute" and add the olive oil.
While the pot and oil are warming, chop up 1 medium link of low-fat smoked sausage into bite size and smaller pieces. This sausage is included for a bit of flavor as opposed to a major protein source.
In the oil, saute the sausage pieces, the diced onion, and the garlic cloves, until soft, translucent and fragrant.
Add in the chicken broth and water, and leave the pot on "saute mode" so that it begin to warm the broth and everything we now add (the majority of which was frozen).
Chop the potato, celery and leaves, and tomato into small bite size pieces, and add to the pot, stirring as you go, while it is still.
Pour in the quantities given of the frozen vegetable blend, peas, corn, and frozen artichoke hearts. Add or subtract frozen vegetables of your choice as you go.
Drain and rinse the canned beans, and add to the pot, stirring as you go.
Add the chopped cabbage, stirring as you go.
Now we begin to season. We have a container of Au Jus (dry) powder mixed with dried Buttermilk Ranch powder, and this is our "House Mississippi Blend" we use on chicken and roasts, so we added about 2 tablespoons of this (or you could use 1 teaspoon of each if you don't have it combined as we do).
Now taste and add your favorite combo savory seasoning blend. We added 1-2 tablespoons of our favorite Spice Blend Of All Time (which we use on EVERYTHING savory it seems) -- Penzey's Ozark Seasoning. You can choose what YOU like -- perhaps it's chili seasoning, or curry, or even steak seasoning, so long as it isn't too high in sodium. The Ozark blend includes salt, Tellicherry black pepper, garlic, thyme, sage, paprika, mustard, ancho, celery, cayenne, dill weed, dill seed, caraway, allspice, ginger, cardamom, bay leaf, mace, cassia, savory, and cloves.
Stir and taste your broth. It should be flavorful, but not overpowering, because you can always adjust when the soup is done.
Cancel the "saute" mode and select "soup" mode. Set the timer for 30 minutes. Seal the pot with the lid.
Release manually, remove the lid, and unplug the pot. You don't want the vegetables to get mushy during slow release. Stir and taste, and season as you like, with more spices if necessary.
Serve and enjoy, and feel full and sated!
Video
Spa Index Kitchen Notes
1 potato for the entire recipe? Yes. We want a bit of starch to help thicken the broth, but not enough to be a primarily starchy soup. To reduce starchy vegetables, omit or decrease the peas, corn, potato and beans, and select other frozen vegetables of your choice.1 sausage link for the entire recipe? Yes. We wanted the slight bit of fat and flavor for the entire pot, but not enough to increase fat levels. You can always serve a lean protein on the side, or add leftover diced chicken or turkey to the soup when serving.If the vegetables we used were frozen, we added them to the pot exactly like that -- frozen.Regarding the peas and the corn -- these items cook so quickly, there is no need to add them before the 30 minute pressure cook time. Once you quick release and remove the lid, you can stir in your frozen corn and peas right then, and stir until heated through before serving. Or, if you just want a single step, go ahead and add them with the rest of the vegetables. We've been happy with the outcome with either method, but the peas stay greener if stirred in later.We used Penzey's blends, but choose a seasoning blend which suits your tastes, including curry, steak or chop seasoning, or even chili. Just make sure it isn't too high in sodium. Speaking of which ---Regarding the Ranch and Au Jus powdered mixes. We love making Mississipi Pot Roast and Mississipi Chicken quite often, but one full pack of each of those spice mixes is just too darn much for us -- not only in sodium, but in intensity. We think you can get by with FAR less (and far less butter, too) than called for in the original. So, we purchased 2 packs of Buttermilk Ranch Powder, and 2 packs of Au Jus mix, and we mixed them together in a sealed shaker jar. When we make those dishes we just lightly season with our pre-mixed Mississippi blend. When we make this soup, we may add 1-2 tablespoons depending on whatever other seasonings we're using. It does add a bit more sodium, but remember we're stirring in up to 2 tablespoons into nearly 26 cups of soup in an 8 quarts pot. It's a tasty addition.For our 8-quart pot, we elected to allow for 18 Servings, which is roughly 1.5 cups per serving.
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