Cabbage Carrot Potato Soup

We DID have a lot of cabbage...  And, I love soup...  So, this was a no-brainer.  And, it's super easy and delicious.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 of a medium head of cabbage, cut into cubes
4 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 green bell pepper, diced
1/4 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/4 orange bell pepper, diced
1/4 white candy onion, sliced thin
2 large red potatoes, halved and thinly sliced
2 Tbsp minced garlic
6 cups chicken stock
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp fresh chopped sage
1/4 tsp fresh chopped garlic chives
1/4 tsp fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste


Instructions
Put a large soup pot on the medium high stove and add the olive oil to heat as it coats the bottom of the pot.


Add the chopped vegetables and sautee them until the potatoes and onions start looking tender and translucent, and the carrots have softened.

Add the chicken stock and remaining seasonings, and allow to simmer together for about 20 minutes.


You can serve this hearty vegetable soup just like it is.  Or you can blend it for a creamier consistency.  I blended it with a handheld immersion blender, and just left a bit of chunkiness.  Serves 6.

I topped it with grated parmesan and croutons made from whole wheat toast.  It was delicious, and it holds for leftovers.  So good for you!  We'll make this one again for sure!

Fresh Taco Topper

Tuesday is Taco Night at the Philip house, and this week was no different.  I know that personal taco taste is subjective, so I'll just tell you how we made them in case you are curious.  We used ground turkey (we're trying to minimize red meat to the occasional steak and burger).  We browned it.  We drained it.  See why this isn't a recipe?  Then, I added sliced red, green, yellow, and orange bell peppers and sliced red onion (probably about a quarter of each of them).  Then, I start throwing things in:  Cumin, Chili Powder, Sciracha, garlic, red pepper flakes, hungarian paprika, etc.  Tacos never taste the same twice at our house...  So, that's pretty much what you do with the meat. 

Mark loves the double-decker...  So, we use both flour and corn tortillas, warmed, and them cemented together with refried beans.  In case you were really curious...

Here's the part I thought you might actually want to know.  We had a lot of cabbage, and we usually top our tacos with tomatoes and lettuce.  But, it seemed like a lot of restaurants do a cabbage topping, so I went for that...  ...and this fresh taco topper was born.

(This is a terrible photo.  I was really hungry at that point.)

Ingredients
1/4 medium sized head of cabbage, sliced thin (around 2 cups or so...)
1 small tomato, diced
1 green onion
1 tsp garlic chives
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

Instructions
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and chill until you are ready to top your tacos.  Serves 6.

The orange and lime juice combination was so refreshing on the spicy tacos...  We went back for seconds. 

Word of warning:  This does not eat like slaw to me.  I saved what was leftover to eat as slaw with lunch the next day.  Not that tasty on it's own - maybe too much acid for my taste.