Cabbage Apple Soup

The other day I was looking through our recent posts and realized we haven't had soup in a really long time. Granted, I don't feel much like soup during the summer, but I think the last one we posted was back in February. Aside from being a travesty (because soup is oh-so-good), it definitely doesn't reflect what I'm actually making in my kitchen. I love soup. And I'd make it much more often if my husband didn't claim hunger 2 hours later.

This is a simple soup. It makes an excellent appetizer or side, but you'd probably have to eat half the pot to fill you up if you ate it as the main course (and then your belly would feel sloshy and no one likes that, right?), or serve it with plenty of Focaccia bread. I like it because of, not in spite of, its simpleness. And as you may have guessed by the picture, I started eating it before I remembered that I needed to take a picture of it. Oops!

Cabbage Apple Soup

Recipe from Bon Appetit November 2002

Pictures by Kelly

3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 cups thinly sliced cored green cabbage (about 1/2 large head)*
1 large onion, chopped
8 large fresh thyme sprigs
6 cups low-salt chicken or vegetable broth

salt and pepper, to taste
1 1/4 pounds apples, cored, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter with oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add cabbage and onion; sauté until vegetables wilt and brown, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. 
2. Add 8 thyme sprigs and sauté 1 minute longer. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples and sauté until brown and tender, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Remove thyme sprigs from soup. Ladle soup into bowls; garnish with apples and serve.

 *I used some kind of cabbage that doesn't grow it a head. It's so dark that it almost looks like collard greens, but I think the taste is pretty similar. Anyway, if you're wondering why your cabbage is light green and mine is dark, that's why. If you wanted to go wild, you could try using half purple, half green in your soup.