Roasted Purple Cabbage with Red Lentil Soup

Remember this purple cabbage, roasted it up nicely with the warmest of spices.
Hard to believe there were any left over, but I did roast up a few batches in order to use the whole head of cabbage.
What better way to use the remains than in a soup, the next day.

This soup couldn’t have been any easier as the cabbage was already fully flavored (see recipe in this post) and is the main ingredient.

Loose Recipe:

Start with browning one chopped onion till soft and translucent in a generous amount of olive oil in a dutch oven – or, any heavy bottomed pot will do, then adding in one big grated garlic and cook for a few m ore minutes – don’t burn the garlic.

Add in the roasted cabbage (and all the saved pan scrapings) along with pinches of the same herbs and spices used while roasting them originally.

Add enough water, or any kind of stock you’d like, to cover the cabbage by about 2 inches, or so.

Bring to a boil, cover and simmer. The cabbage is already cooked, but you do need to allow the flavors to mingle – more so if using water – for no less than an hour. I let mine go for 2 hours, and there was a notable difference between the times as I taste tested.

Check to make sure your liquid levels are good, adjusting as needed, and adjust seasonings to taste, as well, when finished simmering.

Spoon liquid and cabbage into warm bowls and top with the cooked red lentils and fresh cilantro.

*Note: I recommend cutting up the cabbage into bite sized portions easily scooped up with a spoon…I’ll remind myslef of this too, the next time.

Enjoy!

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As usual, from time to time, I like to mix in a few notes food photography-wise.

Camera Angle Tip:

When you’re creating more than a few images, remember to have variety in your images.
Move around your set, rework your scene, change up your camera angles, and camera lenses. Be sure to have a mix of close ups, medium shots and wider shots.
You will need a variety of all of these kinds of shots to tell an interesting visual story.

Food Styling Tips:

Use the ingredients/toppings/garnishes from your recipe as not only separate ingredient shots, but as ‘food props’ as well.

Color Theory Tips:

Not sure where to start with your color palette or color story?
Once you know what color your hero or main ingredient is, study up on color theory and then look to the color wheel for help. Here’s a fun and interactive site to get your started.