Meatless Monday - Fish Soup With Cabbage and Leeks

I'm recovering from the flu, so light, healthy fare is about all I can manage.

This soup is easy to make and, even though I had two bowls I didn't feel uncomfortably full.

You will need:

1/2 white cabbage cut into fine ribbons

2 leeks, white stem only - sliced into small pieces

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 freshly chopped tomatoes

3 or 4 potatoes, cut into small cubes. Red potatoes, scrubbed and chopped with skin on would be more colorful

8 cups of vegetable stock

1 minced heaped teaspoon of garlic

1 tsp dried basil and 2 tsp dried marjoram

1 cup white wine (or apple juice)

A small piece of lemon zest

A light, white fish of your choice, cod etc. I'm using dover sole.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in your pan and add the onion, saute on low 3 mins until softened and then add the teaspoon of garlic, stir well allowing the garlic to brown nicely but not stick to bottom of pan. Add the teaspoon of basil and also the marjoram and give a good stir. Dissolve 4 vegetable bouillon cubes in 2 cups of water and add a cup of that broth to your pan. Now add the tomatoes.

Cover pan, raise heat to medium/low on your stove top and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the leeks to the pan, recover, cook 3 minutes.

Add the thinly sliced cabbage, a cup of white wine, cover and simmer 5 minutes.

Heat some oil in a separate pan for the fish. Wash your fish, but don't pat dry.When oil is warm but not hot, add your fish. Allow to poach lightly and season well with black pepper.

After 5 minutes is up, add the remaining 7 cups of vegetable broth to the cabbage, leek tomato mix and simmer 10 minutes. Peel and chop the potatoes and add to the pan, bring to boil, then take the lid off and simmer 6 minutes. Turn the heat off and add the lemon zest giving the pan a good stir to incorporate. The potato pieces should be al dente but not mushy. Allow to stand 5 minutes.

The Cabbage, Leek, Tomato "Soup"

Poached Dover Sole

Put a ladle of veggie broth into a soup bowl and then add a piece of fish on the top, scooping up some of the fish juice and spooning that over top of fish.

Eat the soup base through the fish.

It is very mild in flavor. Next time I would add more tomatoes, but this time around I didn't want anything too acidic.