Cabbage Soup

My friend Lisa once told me that cabbage soup, if eaten three times a day (without eating anything else), can help drop a significant number of pounds a week. I was very taken by that - seemed like a simple enough thing to do, especially since I love soups. So I tried to lose weight by eating this soup instead of lunch and dinner a few times. It is very filling, you won't really feel hungry, but I crave variety by the end of the second day and lose interest in eating soup. I lose 1 lb or so each time, but it comes back very fast! I would not recommend this as a weight loss soup, but it is a nice soup to eat anyway.

Ingredients:

1 medium head of cabbage
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
1 bunch green onion
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch spinach
1 green pepper
5-6 tomatoes
Seasonings to taste

Method:
1. Wash, clean, peel and dice all vegetables into bite sized pieces.
2. In a large dish, combine all vegetables and seasonings and add water until the vegetables are just submerged.
3. If you use a microwave, like me, use a deep dish with atleast 4-5 inches of space between the top of the water and the top of the dish. This will prevent water from boiling over and spilling on to your microwave. Microwave for about 15 minutes. Let stand for a few minutes and enjoy. My new microwave has a "stew" option and that also works fairly well for this.
4. If you use stovetop, combine vegetables, seasonings and water in a soup pot and put on a high flame till the water starts boiling, about 10 minutes. Cover and cook till vegetables are tender, about 3o minutes.

My favorite vegetarian chili

I first came across chili when we lived in Boulder, CO; and we had a chili cook-off in my office. Since I am a vegetarian, I could not eat a lot of the chili that was made, but one of my co-workers was kind enough to make a vegetarian chili for me. The recipe I have here is for a very Indianized version of chili, more like a stew actually, customized for my husband, who is a very picky eater. This takes about half-an-hour to cook once you have the ingredients ready, and can be served in a variety of ways. We have eaten it with rice, with bread, with tortillas or chapatis, or just like that with no accompaniment.

Ingredients:
Handful of garbanzo beans (soaked overnight and pressure cooked, or canned)
Handful of kidney beans (soaked overnight and pressure cooked, or canned)
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 capsicum, de-seeded and diced
1/2 cup cut green beans
1 can stewed tomatoes (or just drop four tomatoes in hot water until the skin starts peeling, remove the peel and puree)
1 big onion, chopped
1 bunch cilantro (you decide)
1 clove garlic (you decide)
1 tbsp oil (I like olive oil)
Water (about 10 cups - you decide how much)

Spices:
1 stick cinnamon
4-5 cloves
4 pods cardamom, crushed
1 bay leaf
2 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
red chilli flakes (optional)

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a vessel (you need a big pot to make this chili) until the oil ripples when you tilt the vessel
2. Add the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaf.
3. When the cloves swell, add the chopped onions and fry them until golden brown
4. Add carrots, capsicum, and green beans and fry for 3-4 minutes until partially cooked.
5. Add the garam masala and fry for about 20-25 seconds.
6. Add the garbanzo beans, kidney beans and the tomatoes.
7. Let sit for about 1 minute and add the water and salt.
8. Bring to a boil.
9. Add the cilantro and once the cilantro starts to wilt, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
10. Add the red chilli flakes if you wish.

The chili is done. Serve hot :)