Pork, lentil and cabbage soup

 

That's right! More soup! I know January is supposed to be soup month, but the weather continues to be crummy and soup is usually an easy and cheap dish to put together, so you will probably see more soup recipes coming. As The Kitchen Witch wisely suggested, I should concentrate on recipes that are on the cheaper side now that I'm unemployed. It helps a bunch that I have all the time in the world to scout the local farmer's markets for inexpensive fruit and veggies, plus I will also have the chance to go to Costco and buy me some of that delicious pork tenderloin at $2.99 a pound. I mean, that's wicked cheap. If I buy it at the grocery store I have to dish out something close to $7/lbs. so, well, you do the math. 

Another thing that I have time to do now is clean and organize the house, and I cannot tell you how much it needs it. I started yesterday by attacking my closet —which was much worse than any closet I've ever seen. I kid you not, it was so bad that I didn't dare taking a "before" picture". I'll just take the "after" once I'm done with it and then I'll cart 10+ bags of clothes to Plato's Closet to see if they want to buy any of my crap. After I'm done with that there's the rest of the house to take care of, a thought that makes my knees feel weak, but at the same time makes me feel strangely comforted in a "at least I'm not gonna sit around and be depressed about it" kind of way.

And of course there will be some crazy cooking and baking —once we get the new dishwasher installed, that is. Because yes, on the same day I got canned, my dishwasher broke. As in forever. Cannot be repaired. But as soon as the new one comes in I'll have all day to cook and photograph all kinds of recipes so, if you have suggestions, please tell me. What should I attempt to cook now that I have all the time in the world?

PORK, LENTIL AND CABBAGE SOUP

Serves 6-8

Olive oil

One pork chop, deboned and cubed

Pork chop bone

2 onions, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery ribs, sliced

1 cup lentils

1 can chopped tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, minced

7 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon dried thyme

3 cups finely sliced green cabbage

Salt and pepper

Minced parsely to garnish

Heat oil in a large dutch oven. Toss in the pork bone. Season cubed pork with salt and pepper and cook in heated pot until lightly browned. Add onions, carrots, celery and cook, constantly stirring, until vegetables are starting to brown.

Stir in lentils, tomatoes and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and add the stock and the thyme. Bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for about a half hour. When lentils are tender add cabbage and cook for five minutes. Discard pork bone. Garnish with parsley just before serving.