Purple Cabbage Soup 

vegan, gluten-free (without croutons or crackers), soy-free (without impossible sausage and without silken tofu), refined sugar-free

Adapted from a recipe on Slavic Vegan.

If you're like me, you're always looking to find more ways to incorporate more antioxidant-rich foods into your meal routine. Purple cabbage is so nutritious and so beautiful that I often try to throw little shreds of it into salads, tacos, bowls, etc. But it tastes pretty strong when eaten raw, and I have trouble consuming a whole head before it goes bad. This soup delivers all that nutrition in a delicious, creamy, beautiful presentation! It may look like a berry smoothie when it's in the blender, but this is a new cozy wintertime favorite of mine! It's delicious served with crumbled spicy impossible sausage and oyster crackers, or if you want to go a more homemade route, with crispy garlic croutons. If not serving with sausage, an easy way to bump up the protein and make it a complete meal is to add silken tofu.

Serves: 4 / Prep time: 15 min / Total time: 35 min

Ingredients:​​
For the Soup:

• 1/2 head purple cabbage, chopped
• 12-14 mini purple potatoes (or 1 large yellow or white potato), diced
• 1 small onion or shallot, choppped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 4 cups vegetable broth*
• 1/4 C raw cashews
• 1 carton silken tofu, optional
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt to taste

Optional toppings for serving:

• Impossible sausage (the spicy variety is particularly delicious with this soup)
• Oyster crackers
• Crispy Croutons:
  • 4-5 slices of crusty bread (best when a little bit stale)
  • 1/4 tsp each garlic powder, salt, and black pepper 
  • 1/2 tsp nutritional yeast** (optional)
  • 2-3 tbsp olive oil

​

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a big shallow pan. Sauté onion/shallot until soft and translucent. Add garlic, and stir until fragrant.
2. Now add cabbage, potato, and vinegar, and stir again. Pour in vegetable broth, and bring to boil.
3. Lower the heat, cover with lid and simmer for 15 min.
4. Meanwhile, if making the croutons: Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Chop the bread into bite-size cubes, and toss with the garlic powder, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, and olive oil. Place on baking sheet and roast for 7 min, then flip the cubes, and roast another 5 min until lightly golden brown.
5. If making the impossible sausage, preheat a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Cut open sausage package, and squeeze out all the sausage into the hot pan. Cook until desired level of browning, about 10 minute, stirring and breaking up the pieces occasionally.***
6. Purée the soup in a blender together with cashews and optional silken tofu until very smooth. You may need to do it in batches.****
7. Transfer the soup back into the pan and slowly bring back to boil. Season with salt and pepper, taste and switch off the heat.
8. Serve in bowls or mugs garnished with croutons and/or crumbled impossible sausage and oyster crackers

*I love "Better than Bouillon" brand No Chicken Base or Vegetable Base.
​**Nutritional yeast, commonly called "nooch" by vegans, is deactivated yeast with an amazing nutrition profile and a nutty, cheesy flavor. Look for nutritional yeast in the bulk bins, baking aisle, or supplements section at your grocery store. I use it to top pasta, pizza, salads, breads, rice, and popcorn, and it's used in many vegan cheese substitutes. For other recipes calling for nooch, see Crispy Kale Chips, Roasted Chickpeas, Tofu Scramble, Chickpea Noodle Soup, Soft Gruyere, Cauliflower Gratin, and Creamy Spinach-Artichoke Dip. In other words, if you don't already have some, you're going to want to buy some!
***Impossible sausage is available in many grocery stores like Kroger and Walmart. It's just about as messy getting it out of the package as the animal-based product, so cutting the package in half with a knife seems to be the least messy way to do it. It cooks up just like animal-based meat, sizzling, splattering, and browning.

****Hold a kitchen towel over the blender lid to prevent any hot splatters. It may take a few minutes of blending to get a smooth creamy texture.