Try This Flavorful Cabbage Soup Recipe

Recipe From PaleoHacks

When someone mentions cabbage soup,  the first thought that may pop in your head is the repetitive diet that was Charlie Bucket’s nightly dinner in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Of course, Charlie’s dreary fare was a far cry from this amazing cabbage soup recipe. There’s no reason for you not to enjoy a bowl — or maybe two!

This soup recipe has been around for a number of years, providing warmth and comfort during cold weather. Not only is it filling, but cabbage soup is bursting with a wide array of vitamins and minerals due to the nutrient-filled ingredients it uses. If you can’t wait to benefit from this delicious soup, here’s a slow cooker recipe from Paleohacks that combines only the highest quality of products:

Crock Pot Cabbage Soup

Cook Time: 4 hours Serving Size: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 free-range chicken breasts
  •  2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  •  3/4 cup carrots, chopped
  •  1/2 cup zucchini, peeled, deseeded and chopped
  •  3 garlic cloves, minced
  •  1 small yellow onion, diced
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  •  1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  •  4 cups chicken broth
  •  1/2 head of cabbage, chopped

Procedure

  1. Coat slow cooker with coconut oil and then add chicken.
  2. Add chopped celery, carrots, zucchini, garlic and onion. Next, add basil, oregano, salt, pepper and broth.
  3. Cook soup on high for approximately two hours and then remove bones from chicken and add chicken back to the pot. Add the chopped cabbage.
  4. Cook soup on high for an additional two hours before removing from the slow cooker. Enjoy!

Cabbage May Promote Skin, Bone and Muscle Health

Cabbages are a staple of vegetable aisles and farmers markets around the world. It’s nearly impossible to visit a store without seeing the huge pile of light green or purple cabbages, just waiting for you to choose one from their ranks.

Cabbages as a culinary delight have been around for thousands of years, with the Celts, Romans and Egyptians cultivating and benefiting from them. For Egyptians, cabbage was even regarded as the best of their wide selection of vegetables. They also used cabbages to ease a number of conditions, including gout, headaches and mushroom poisoning.1

This is all due to the numerous nutrients in cabbages. This vegetable is rich in vitamins K, C, B6 and B1, as well as iron and calcium, which are all essential for the smooth functioning of various body systems. Adding cabbage to your diet may:2

  • Help prevent inflammation. Chronic inflammation is one of the leading causes of heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. Cabbage contains numerous types of antioxidants that may help mitigate chronic inflammation.
  • Assist in maintaining bone, skin and muscle health. The high levels of vitamin C in cabbage can help boost collagen production, a protein needed to maintain the flexibility and strength of bones, muscles and blood vessels.
  • Aid in digestion. Cabbage is a good source of insoluble fiber, the type that is not broken down in the intestines. It helps bulk up stools and normalize bowel movements.
  • Support cardiovascular health. Cabbage contains high levels of potassium, a mineral found to help regulate blood pressure by counteracting excess sodium found in the body. It also helps relax blood vessels and promote sodium excretion.

Protect Your Eyesight With Carrots

When you were a kid, there’s a high chance that you were urged by your parents to eat your carrots because they would keep your eyesight in tip-top shape. If you’re like most kids, you probably doubted your parents, thinking this was just a ploy to get you to finish the food on your plate.

The good news is that they were telling the truth: Carrots are actually pretty nutritious. They’re especially rich in beta-carotene and numerous antioxidants that are essential for the production of vitamin A. Vitamin A is especially important as it directly influences the health of the cornea. In fact, vitamin A deficiency is one of the leading causes of blindness in children. Aside from protecting your eyes from deterioration, carrots offer other health benefits, which include the following:

  • May lower your risk of coronary heart disease. Studies show that adding carrots to your diet may help reduce your risk of heart disease by up to 32 percent.3
  • Reduce your risk of cancer. Carrots contain impressive amounts of antioxidants, including beta-carotene and polyacetylene, which are especially useful for cancer prevention and treatment. In fact, studies show that carrot juice may play a role in treating leukemia and other types of cancer.4
  • Support cellular and skin health. Carrots are filled with active components that help prevent cellular damage from free radicals. Due to these, carrots can assist in protecting you from sun damage and aging.

Why Sipping Chicken Broth Is a Good Choice

One of the main ingredients of this cabbage soup recipe is chicken broth. Not only does it provide the well-loved flavor of chicken soup, but it also offers you numerous healing benefits. Chicken broth is loaded with cysteine, glucosamine, chondroitin and other components that help the body recover from sickness. Here are some of the benefits that you can get from bone broth:

  • Improved digestion. Bone broth has a hydrophilic colloid that helps attract fluids and digestive juices, which may help promote smooth digestion and metabolism.
  • Reduced inflammation. Chicken cartilage and bones contain glucosamine, sulphates and other components that can reduce inflammation and joint pain.
  • May help thin the mucus in the lungs. Bone broth contains high amounts of cysteine, an amino acid that makes the mucus in the lungs thinner, making it easier to expel. This is especially useful for people suffering from colds and other mild respiratory issues.

Just make sure that you’re using chicken broth made from the bones of organic free-range chickens to make sure you’re getting all the vitamins and minerals it’s supposed to contain.

When It Comes to Chicken, Pasture-Raised Organic Is the Way to Go

Most Americans love chicken. This is hardly breaking news.  Chicken is the protein of choice in countless recipes, and shows up on virtually every restaurant menu. But although chicken is loaded with impressive amounts of protein and nutrients, what matters most is the quality of the chicken you’re getting.

Unfortunately, most chicken producers have long since abandoned any pretense of providing the sustainably sourced and high-quality food your body needs. Today, about 90 percent of poultry products available in the market come from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). While CAFOs may be the norm in this day and age, it doesn’t mean that we should support this kind of inhumane way of raising animals.

If you’re eating CAFO chicken, there’s a chance that you’re being exposed to numerous toxins, including antibiotics and harmful chemicals. Trust me, you do not want this stuff in your body. For better-quality food, make sure that you go for organic pasture-raised chickens. This not only ensures that you’re protected from toxins used in conventional farms, but you also get a product that’s more nutrient-dense. Pasture-raised chickens contain more vitamin A, omega-3 fats and beta-carotene than their CAFO counterparts.

Once you decide to try this recipe for you or your family, make sure that you get only the best-quality products you can get your hands on. Some of them may be a bit pricey, but the extra dollars are worth it for you to get the complete array of nutrients you need to be getting from your food.

+ Sources and References