Kielbasa Cabbage Soup

Soup in summer? Say yes, because eating a warm meal can actually cool you off. Why? Because you perspire and release excess heat from your body. In my last post I made Vietnamese Cabbage Salad and I only used half of the Napa cabbage. I hate to waste food so I decided to make a kielbasa cabbage soup with the other half. This is also a good soup to make if you have vegetables in your crisper you need to use before they spoil.

1/2 Napa cabbage shredded fine
smoked or hot kielbasa sausage cut in small pieces - optional
1/2 red onion chopped
2 stalks of celery chopped
1 cup shredded carrots or sliced carrots (pre-steam to soften)
1 yellow or red bell pepper chopped in medium pieces
1 can diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes cut in bite sized pieces
1 tsp sea salt
1/8 cup fresh dill chopped, or 2 tbs dried
2 tbs rubbed sage
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
8 cups vegetable broth or just plain water

Remove skin from kielbasa sausage (or not) and cut in small pieces (or slices). On medium heat sauté the kielbasa, when browned slightly, add the chopped onion. Cook onion till soft then add chopped celery and pre-steamed carrots (carrots nowadays are so tough) and cook till slightly soft. Add bell pepper and vegetable broth or water. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for an hour or so. I like to make soup a day ahead. Why? Because I find soups develop better flavor if refrigerated overnight and then heated again the next day. Try it, you just might agree. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.