Cabbage, But No Corned Beef

Today is St. Patrick's Day, and many people across the United States will be eating corned beef and cabbage, thinking that it is a traditional Irish dish.  In fact, in 19th century Ireland, beef was a luxury that was rarely eaten by the poor in Ireland.  The most typical and cheapest meat was pork, especially bacon.  In the 1800's impoverished Irish immigrants to the United States found that beef was cheaper and more abundant here.  Many of them lived in slums alongside Jewish and Italian immigrants.  It was in the Jewish delis that the Irish newcomers discovered corned beef, salt cured brisket, and it reminded them of the bacon to which they were accustomed.  Cabbage was also inexpensive, so corned beef and cabbage cooked together in a pot became a staple dish of the Irish immigrants.

I am not a big fan of corned beef.  I find that too often it is stringy, and I'm not much of a beef eater anyway.  So, I am not having corned beef today.  However, I am making a big pot of cabbage soup.  I found a recipe on the internet that I always use.  It is the so-called "fat burning" soup that is supposedly good for losing weight.  This morning I chopped up the vegetables... celery, onions, bell peppers, carrots, and, of course, a head of cabbage.  I added tomato juice, chicken broth (the recipe calls for beef broth), canned whole tomatoes, frozen green beans, a packet of dry onion soup mix, and enough water to cover the vegetables.  The recipe did not call for it, but I also added a can of garbanzos for protein, and a couple of chopped chipotle peppers for a hint of heat.

The recipe says to bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for 25 minutes.  No, no, no.  I let it simmer for hours, until I am ready to eat around four o'clock this afternoon.  A couple big bowls of this will be my dinner for the next three days.  We'll see if I lose a pound or two.