Spicy Chicken and Cabbage Soup

Lemongrass, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes give this spicy chicken and cabbage soup that nice, Asian zing. This dish is very healthy–low carb, low calorie, and high in protein and fiber. Customize it by adding your favorite vegetables.

I have a weird relationship with cabbage. It’s an awesome, healthy, and cheap food source ($0.59 a head? I’ll take all of them). It’s wonderful in soups, particularly. But it kind of freaks me out.

I can’t even begin to explain why. Maybe it’s the strong odor. Or maybe it’s the fact that bugs can easily hide and lay their eggs in between the leaves (lettuce freaks me out for the same reason, actually)? Bugs don’t usually bother me, but in my food? No. Stay out of my food, bugs.

Of course, that’s simple to fix if you want to do the work of cleaning it thoroughly. Easy with carrots, not so much with cabbage. So I just don’t buy it very often.

Plus Zach hates the smell. He’ll eat the cabbage, as long as our house doesn’t smell like I just cooked cabbage.

You can see where that would be difficult, right?

There are two ways I’ve found of accomplishing this, though. Vegetable soup and now this. Somehow, cooking it with other vegetables and in a broth that has a stronger smell than cabbage really does the trick. 😛

Spicy Chicken and Cabbage Soup

• 10 cups of water
• 2 large chicken breasts
• 1 medium to large head of green cabbage, shredded
• 2 1/2 tsps garlic power
• 2 tbsps lemongrass paste (the kind you find in the produce section, near the fresh herbs and pre-cut fruits)
• 2 grated carrots
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into strips
• 4 green onions
• 2 tsps fish sauce
• 3-4 tsps soy sauce
• 3 tsps sriracha sauce
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

This recipe came from Hungry Foodies, but I had to make some changes. There were a lot of ingredients I substituted either because I already had some variation of it in my kitchen or because I couldn’t find in my regular grocery store (and I didn’t feel like running all over town looking for them). I also added a zucchini for a little extra chunky. You can see the differences and get the recipe instructions by going to their website.

Zach and I both LOVED this soup! The one change he suggested was adding some noodles (he works out a lot, so carbs are necessary for his diet), but I like the fact that there are no grains in this. Maybe I’ll make him some noodles on the side next time.

Now that I have him so excited about cabbage, I have a few other recipes up my sleeve. 😉

What’s your favorite cabbage-based dish?

This post was featured on the Pretty Pintastic Party.