Polish Sausage Soup

     There is nothing like a delicious, hot, and filling soup for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  Yes, I eat soup any time of day.  The trick is to modify traditional recipes to make them low in carbohydrates.  Kristin, a friend of Ellen’s, gave her a wonderful Polish Sausage Soup recipe which we converted to this low-carb version.

3 Tbs. Ghee or butter
2 stalks celery – thinly sliced
2 medium onions – chopped
1 red bell pepper – chopped
     Sauté until soft then add:
1 lb Polish Sausage – sliced
2 Bay Leaves
8 cups water
1/3 cup Better Bullion (to taste)
     Simmer 20 minutes
     Remove bay leaves
      Add
¼ cup parsley
6 cups Cabbage – shredded
1 can stewed tomatoes
     Simmer until tender
Take out half the mixture and
blend it in the blender
then return it to the mixture

     Blending half the ingredients gives the soup a nice hearty feel without having to add any thickening flours.  Personally I find vegetable and meat combinations like this easily digestible and deeply satisfying.  These cold rainy days need warming foods.  In summer I may find that I would rather have this same meal as a hot polish sausage smothered in onions and peppers and mustard with coleslaw and fresh tomatoes.  Essentially this would be the same meal, but it would feel completely different.  Low-carb cooking has huge variety once you start thinking in this way.