Cabbage Soup with Dumplings

So you know how I sometimes get a question in my head and I ask it of everyone I know? Well, maybe you don't know this but it's true. Last year my question was: "If you were going to be executed tomorrow, what would you request for your last supper tonight?" Morbid yeah, but still such a great question. Well, this week lots of my friends and family have been sick so my question has been: "What did your mom/dad/grandparent/etc. make for you when you were sick as a kid?"

The answers are so fun to hear! I would LOVE it if those who read this blog left a comment with their childhood memories of sick food. It may inspire some future blog posts! For sick young me, my mom would make chicken noodle soup with dumplings. It was the Lipton brand - the dried stuff in an envelope, and she'd add her own homemade dumplings. I loved those dumplings. They're dense and chewy and I always wanted more of them.

Even though I'm not sick (excuse me while I pound furiously on wood), I decided a vegetable rich soup with dumplings was just what the doctor ordered tonight. You can make any broth-based soup and add these kickass dumplings, but I wanted the nutritional benefits of cabbage and kale to proactively fight all those germs out there.

I also have had mega carb cravings this week - must be the season change. So I decided I had to have some popovers with my soup. I used the most basic recipe I could find and it worked great! Yum, for dessert, leftover popovers are AMAZING with homemade raspberry jam (made with raspberries from my backyard!).

Here is the method for making my mom's dumplings: beat an egg in a bowl with a splash of milk and some salt and pepper. I also added fresh chopped parsley for a punch of green color. Add flour in small increments and mix until it's thick and sticky. If it gets too thick, add some more milk. You're looking for the consistency of wet concrete - or what you imagine that consistency would feel like.

Then dip a big spoon in your boiling soup to make it hot. Scoop some dumpling mixture with the hot spoon and drop it into the soup. Stir that spoon in the boiling soup to keep it hot and add another scoop of dumpling mix. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes or until dumplings are plumped up. Serve dumplings and soup with parmesan cheese and popovers!

Cabbage Soup with Dumplings

1 large onion, diced

1 large Russet potato, peeled and diced

4 carrots, peeled and diced

4 ribs celery, diced

3 bay leaves, salt, pepper, and 1 Tbsp Herbs de Provence

2 cubes Rapunzel vegetable bouillon w/ herbs

7 cups water

1/2 Napa or Savoy cabbage, shredded

1/2 bunch kale, chopped

Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter in large Dutch oven. Add onion, carrot, potato, celery, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and Herbs de Provence. Cook until vegetables are soft, about 5-7 minutes. Add bouillon cubes and water and crank up heat to medium-high. Cook another 5 minutes then add cabbage and kale. Cover and cook another 5-7 minutes to cook until all veggies are soft. Add dumplings (recipe below).

My Mom's Dumplings: (sorry, no measurements!)

1 egg

1 splash milk (1/3 cup?)

salt and pepper

chopped parsley (optional)

all purpose flour

Beat egg, milk, salt, pepper, and parsley together with a fork. Add enough flour until the mixture is thick and sticky like concrete. Drop by spoonful into boiling broth soup and cook covered until pump and cooked through.

ONE YEAR AGO: Baked Chicken Parmesan