A Life, Lived

Slow Cooker Cabbage Soup with Tomatoes, Chicken-garlic Sausage, and Parmigiano

It isdefineately soup season here!! Last week I even pulled out the slow cooker for the first time since the spring- a sure sign that I am in the mood for warm, comforting foods.

I decided to make this soup from Kalyn's Kitchen. We had a cabbage from the CSA to use up andthis seemed ot bejust the way to do it. Pieces of chicken sausage give heft to this cabbage soup, while fennel and thyme add in lots of flavor.

The great thing about soups is you often just dump everything in the pot and then ignore it for some time. With this slow cooker soup you get to ignore it for a long time - although you'll not forget it is there because the house is soon full of delicious smells!!!

This is a soup to warm your bones and make ou forget that snow is on the way!

Slow Cooker Cabbage Soup with Tomatoes, Chicken-garlic Sausage, and Parmigiano

6 cups chopped cabbage (1 pound)
1 onion, chopped small
1 cup celery, diced small
2 cans (14.5 oz.) petite dice tomatoes
6 cups beef stock
2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. ground fennel
fresh ground black pepper to taste
4 (or 6) links Chicken Sausage
2 tsp. olive oil
freshly-grated Parmigiano cheese for serving

Chop the cabbage, onion, and celery and place in the slow cooker.   Add the 2 cans of tomatoes, beef stock, dried thyme, ground fennel, and black pepper to the slow cooker.  Cook 8-9 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.  

When the cabbage is well-softened, slice the sausage into pieces about 1/4 inch thick.  Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick pan and cook over medium-high heat until the sausage is nicely browned.   Add the well-browned sausage to the soup, turn to high if you were cooking on low, and cook 30-45 minutes more.  Serve hot, with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Beef and Tomato Macaroni Soup

I always think of winter as 'soup' weather but have never experienced a soup season quite like this! It seems as if I am buying more broth at the grocery ever week to fuel our apparent insatiable need for warmth and comfort.

This year I have been utilizing my crock pot to assist with the soup cooking. What a treat to come home to those happy smells!

I made this soupa few weeks ago when I found 12 packages of ground beef in the freezer and decided it was time to do something about it. This is a super meal in itself - both rich tasting and satisfying. It smells amazing when cooking and tastes even more wonderful.

I makes a lot but we discovered that it freezes well - perfect for lugging into the office for lunch.

When I served it I drizzled some good quality olive oil on top and grated a bit of aged parmigiano on top. MMMMM

Beef and Tomato Macaroni Soup

8 cups beef broth, divided
1lb ground beef (I used 85/15)
28oz diced tomatoes in tomato juice
6oz tomato paste
1 cup frozen chopped onions (or one large onion, chopped)
10oz sliced mushrooms
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1 cup uncooked macaroni noodles

Place all ingredients in large slow cooker, except for 1 cup of beef broth and the uncooked macaroni noodles. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Thirty minutes before serving, stir in uncooked macaroni noodles and reserved beef broth. Stir, cover, and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Crock Pot Picadillo

Cuban Picadillo is basically a sloppy joe without the bun. But picadillo has a little more pizzazz, thanks to the sweet and piquant flavor combination of raisins and olives simmered with ground beef and tomato sauce. Picadillo is home cooked comfort food, the type of easy weeknight meal that we love.

The ingredients in Cuban Picadillo are a reflection of its history. Peppers, tomatoes and olives can be traced back to Spanish colonization. The blending of sweet and acidic ingredients is also a big part of Caribbean cuisine.

When I spotted this recipe on one of my favourite blogs - Skinny Taste, I knew I had to give it a try. A bonus was that it also provided an excuse to dig my new crock pot out of the box.

This recipe makes a lot - we had two meals out of it and froze 3 containers for future use. You won't mind at all though because it is just so darn good!

Crock Pot Picadillo

2 1/2 lbs 93% lean ground beef
1 cup minced onion
1 cup diced red bell peppers
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 small tomato, diced
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup alcaparrado (manzanilla olives, pimientos, capers) or green olives
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 bay leaves
kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste

Brown meat in a large deep skillet on medium-high heat; season with generously with salt and a little pepper. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up into small pieces. When meat is no longer pink, drain all the liquid from pan. Add the onions, garlic and bell peppers to the meat and cook an addition 3-4 minutes.

Transfer the meat to the slow cooker, then add tomato, cilantro, tomato sauce, 1 1/4 cups water, alcaparrado (or olives) then add the spices.

Set slow cooker to HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8. After it's ready, taste for salt and add more as needed. Discard the bay leaves and serve over brown rice.