Crock Pot Sarmale Soup

Hi! I hope that your week is off to a good start. My Monday flew by at work. Then Blake and I did a weight workout at the gym and sat in the sauna. I love the feeling of taking a cold shower after a workout and sauna session. We left the gym tired and hungry. Lucky for me, dinner was waiting for us at home in the crock pot.

Crock pots are one of my favorite ways to make a meal. I usually prep the ingredients (chop veggies, measure out rice or beans, defrost meat, etc) the night before so that I can just throw everything in there in the morning. Because of my work schedule, I’m also able to come home at lunch time and start the crock pot for recipes with a shorter cooking time. Crock pots should be a part of every healthy, busy cook’s kitchen. They are inexpensive (one of mine was $40 at Costco and the other was on sale for $30 at Fred Meyers) and allow you to spend less of your precious time on preparing dinner. They help you serve healthy meals to the whole family with minimal effort. I could go on and on about how amazing they are!

Tonight’s soup was inspired by Hey, That Taste’s Good cabbage soup recipe that I saw a few month’s back. I make Sarmale (Romanian cabbage rolls) for Blake whenever I have a free Sunday afternoon because they take forever to make. The idea of making the dish into a soup is a perfect time-saver. I altered the recipe by preparing it in the crock pot and playing around with the spices.

Crock Pot Sarmale Soup

1 lb. organic, free-range ground beef

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 (15.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

8 cups chicken broth

2 cups prepared sauerkraut

1/2 head of green cabbage, core removed and sliced into thin strips

1/2 c wild rice

1 Tbls worcestershire sauce

1 Tbls smoked paprika

1 teas Italian spice mix

1 teas sea salt

1 teas ground pepper

Place all of the ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 7-8 hours. When the soup is done cooking, taste it and add more salt if desired. I like to serve it with sour cream, sauerkraut, cilantro and sriracha sauce. To round out the meal, I add a green salad and a small loaf of bread for Blake. Store any leftover soup in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Please let me know if you try the soup. We will be having our leftover soup for dinner tomorrow night. Another reason why I love crock pot meals–the leftovers save even more time the next day! I think I’ve raved enough about crock pots for the night. Have a great night!

Take care,

Kilee