A Winter Vegetable Soup Dinner

Last night, I was supposed to make a Pot Roast.  And I did!  But, it wasn't finished until 8 pm because I didn't start it until after 4 (oops).  The family still had to be fed.  Which is why I always keep a pot of soup in the refrigerator, especially in the winter.

I have no idea what you would call this soup.  I had purchased a packet of vegetables from the local ethnic store a few days prior and had made a soup from some of the ingredients.

Inside, there were 2 Red Potatoes, a 1/2 Head of Cauliflower, a 1/2 Head of Cabbage, 3 handfuls of Baby Carrots, 2 handfuls of Celery sticks, a bunch of Flat Parsley, a Chayote, Zucchini, an Ear of Corn, and 4 Chicken Bouillon cubes.

I looked at it, thought "Hmmm, now what do you do with that?" and bought it.  After I brought it home, my husband asked some Mexican coworkers about the Chayote and he was told that there is a particular soup/stew made with these ingredients.  Well, that would be no fun just chopping up everything and basically following a recipe. 

Sometimes, I like to buy produce and experiment.  Sometimes, the experiment fails miserably but other times, it's fabulous.  This time, it was a success...

Winter Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 Head of Cabbage
1/2 Head of Cauliflower
2 Red Potatoes
One Leek, the Dark Green Tip
2 Handfuls of Baby Carrots
2 Celery Sticks
4 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
4-6 large pinches of Dill
Water
1 teaspoon of Herbal Pepper or 1/2 teaspoon of Ground Black Pepper *
Sour Cream


Peel and dice the Potatoes.  Chop the Cabbage and Cauliflower to bite sizes. 

Split the Leeks in half, lengthwise.  Separate each leaf and wash in a bowl of cold water.  Chop into bite sizes.

Add all ingredients, except Sour Cream to crock pot.  Use enough water to cover the vegetables and to make the amount of soup broth you like.  Cook until all vegetables are soft.

Serve with one to two tablespoons of Sour Cream mixed in.

I think this would also be delicious with Mushrooms.  Or with a hard boiled Egg chopped and added on top as garnish.

We served it with homemade Pierogi covered in Butter.

* Herbal Pepper can be bought in Polish stores or other Ethnic stores.  Sometimes, Herbal Pepper is another word for Ground Coriander.  Sometimes, it's a mix which is meant as a substitute for Black Pepper, which is called Herbal Pepper.

Smacznego!