Spicy Beef Tomato Cabbage Soup

This soup is really beefy tomato. The healthy green cabbage flavor is mild. I really love this recipe because it is very hearty and healthy. It's easy to put together, and uses garden veggies. By changing a few of the ingredients, it can become another delicious soup version of cabbage rolls. When we make this soup, we can't stop eating it! And, it's frugal. I freeze leftovers when we have them. If you don't like the idea of biting down on a whole black peppercorn, use ground pepper instead. This soup is good served with a hearty type of bread.

Ingredients:

• 1 large, or two small heads of green cabbage, roughly chopped to 3/4 or 1 inch dice
• 1 one quart size of beef broth, (4 cups beef broth)
• 3 14.5 oz. cans of diced, chili flavored tomatoes
• 1 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes with chilies
• 1 40 oz. can of chili style beans, undrained
• 2 and 1/4 lbs. of hamburger, browned and drained
• 1 envelope regular Taco seasoning
• 1/4 tsp. of whole black peppercorns
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• About a 12 quart stockpot

Directions:

Start browning the ground beef. Chop the cabbage, and place in a stock pot, add the beef broth, diced, chili flavored tomatoes, tomatoes with chilies, chili style beans, taco seasoning, whole black peppercorns, and the ground cumin.

Drain the browned ground beef, and add to the stock pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature to a simmer. Stir occasionally for a couple of hours, or until the cabbage is tender.

*For cabbage roll soup, use regular diced tomatoes instead of flavored(about 64 ounces, or 2 quarts, or half a gallon), and add 1 and 3/4 cup or 2 cups regular rice (instead of the chili beans), and another 4 cups of beef broth (1 qt.), omit the Taco seasoning and the ground cumin. Season to taste starting with about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, perhaps a little minced garlic (about one clove), and a medium sized diced onion. Taste.

Soup too spicy? Add the ingredients of the soup without seasonings. In this case, more unseasoned ground beef, unseasoned tomatoes, and more unseasoned beans or rice (see recipe and tip above), until it tastes right to you. Refrigerate, and freeze your leftovers.

Source: My husband's mother and father were the inspiration for this recipe. They made a beefy, tomato-y, green cabbage soup that no one could resist. The soup pot was completely empty. Our version is heartier with the addition of chili beans.

By Carol Rodriguez from South Bend, IN