Want to lose weight or keep it in check – eat cabbage soup or shchi, as they call it in Russia.

Cabbage soup diet has been quite popular for a while. Weight watchers were just wondering if they have to eat cabbage soup for the rest of their lives to keep their weight in check. For some, it seems like a depressing perspective. Not for me.

I personally don’t mind eating my cabbage soup every day not only for weight control, but because it is a delicious meal that keeps me warm, nourished and healthy. So if you think you don’t like boiled cabbage in the company of other veggies, be prepared to change your mind.

Making soup is no less fun than eating it. Marge Kennedy, an English novelist, once said:

Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor.

In my previous posts I expressed my admiration for borscht, mushroom soup and chicken soup. I also promised to share my cabbage soup recipe when I was writing about cabbage rolls or “golubtsy”.

So let’s cook my humble, yet very delicious cabbage soup.

“Shchi” – the working class soup of the Russian cuisine – is an old style cabbage soup for which both fresh cabbage and sauerkraut can be used. This old traditional soup can be meat based or meatless. The latter is known as “empty shchi”.

I prefer a meatless version while my husband prefers to add pieces of boiled meat into soup when it is served.

The original shchi was slow cooked in a ceramic saucepan in the Russian stove.

From the album RUSSIAN HOUSES by Elizabeth Gaynor, etc.

The longer it slow cooked, the better for the soup. I prefer the vegetables that are not overcooked.

You can try both ways. Both recipes use the same ingredients. The cooking method is different.

To prepare meatless stock, I need 5 cups of boiling water, 1 tsp of salt, a few peppercorns and a bouquet garni (a bunch of thyme, bay leaves, parsley and dill tied together).

While the stock is simmering, I prepare the vegetables.

I chop half of fresh cabbage, 1 big sweet onion, 2 carrots, 1 parsley root, 2 stalks of celery, 4 garlic cloves, a bunch of parsley and slightly sauté all the diced vegetables in olive oil.

Then all the sautéed vegetables go to the soup stock. Bouquet garni is removed from the soup stock before sautéed vegetables are added.

After the veggies are incorporated into stock, I grate one large ripe tomato into the soup.

I also like to add some peeled and chopped potatoes. But if you are on a weight loss track, you might want to avoid it. Continue to cook until the vegetables are ready but not overcooked.

I also add a slice of lemon and a few olives into the soup when it is almost done.

Serve with a spoon of sour cream, or plain. Remember to sprinkle some chopped dill and parsley on top.

Na zdorovye!

P.S. All the food featured in this post has been prepared and photographed by me.