Chicken Soup with Cabbage and Apple

I had an unused bag of cole slaw mix (cabbage, carrots, etc.) and some red potatoes I wanted to use up. Luckily I found this gem of a recipe! It has a unique flavor - an unusual combo of bright and savory flavors with a healthy, almost crunchy, texture. It's not going to appeal to everyone, but it's going to be a winter time staple for me. Most of the soups/stews that I cook at this time of year are on they 'heavy' side. Don't skip the roasted, ground caraway and fennel seeds - I think it'd be dead boring without them. (My variations: I upped the amount of sausage a little bit and dropped the amount of shredded chicken, and I used dark meat rather than chicken breast. Otherwise I faithfully followed the recipe.)

Great soup. Made without sausage because I didn't have any. I would definitely make this again. Very filling.

Very good soup...and i didn't even have all the ingredients and had to improvise! I'm sure the next time and make it exactly to the recipe...it will be awesome!

I made a double batch of this soup... don't love it, but will finish it.

Ok while the apple sounded a bit odd to me for such a savory soup it totally made the soup. once I cooked everything up to where you added the chicken broth I tossed everything into the crock pot and let it simmer all day...it was out of this world and better the next day. the flavor was not the norm but totally worked with this soup

I made a double batch of this soup for a crowd on a rainy winter weekend. For the chicken, I baked 3 bone-in skinless chicken breasts at 400 for about 25 minutes after brushing them with a bit of olive oil and sprinkling with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and sweet paprika. I used 2.5 cups of Swanson unsalted chicken stock and 2.5 cups FFLS chicken broth. I used pre-shredded cabbage and substituted red wine vinegar for the cider vinegar since I don't care for cider vinegar. I served this alongside CL's Brown Soda Bread (from the March 2010 issue). The soup is really tasty and all the different textures go together really well. I thought that 3 minutes at the end might not be enough to cook the apples, but it was perfect. I will make this hearty soup again.

I felt like this recipe might be a bit weird, but I still felt called to try it. This made for a reasonably quick and tasty weeknight meal. I was short on time, so I skipped a step and ground the spices before toasting them. Then, I put them in with the onions, celery, carrot and garlic toward the end of that step. It tasted like I still got their full toasty flavor. The only thing I would change for next time is the potatoes...it helped stretch the meal, but they just didn't taste like they "fit" in the soup...wrong flavor. (Half my family said keep 'em, the other half said omit 'em). I will definitely make this again.

Enjoyed this recipe but probably won't become a staple. Fun to try something different though.

This was good, but not great. We followed the recipe exactly, and it made a good weeknight dinner, but it felt like there was something missing.

This was phenomenal! The toasted and ground spices gave it depth and flavor, even though it wasn't cooked for long. I didn't have shredded chicken on hand, and the chicken apple sausage I bought (Applegate: wonderful and eco-friendly) was 12oz, so I just used the whole package and omitted the 2 cups of shredded chicken. Instead of putting the sausage in the pot with the veggies, I cooked it in a dry nonstick skillet until it browned, then added it. I used canned chicken broth, and it was still fantastic! Even though it's described as a "soup," this is much more like a "stoup" or stew. I'd definitely make this again.

Much tastier and heartier than I thought it would be. Not for a special occasion, but a definate keeper for everyday.

Quick, easy and tasty! Great for a weeknight meal. Skipped the sausage and added more shredded chicken. Toasting and grinding the spices is a must. Served with the suggested pumpernickel bread, great flavor together. My 5 and 3 year old ate a whole bowl.