Comfort in a Pot

While the days are getting longer, winter drags on (and on) in February. But you can cook up plenty of warming comfort with a few simple ingredients from your grocer’s shelves. This week, gThankYou starts its Recipe of the Week. This week’s pick: Delicious and nutritious soups made with cabbage and ham hocks.
First, a couple of notes on ingredients.
Cabbage has been called one of the world’s healthiest foods. It’s also cheap, plentiful, economical, and versatile, as demonstrated in cabbage-based dishes  from about every cuisine (kimchi anyone?). Cabbage has become among our favorite ingredients for satisfying winter meals, with availability at its peak during the colder months.
Ham hocks are fabulous flavor boosters, often added to enhance soups and to make substantial stocks. They’re smoky and rich, and according to Recipezaar come from the lower part of a pig’s hind leg.
gThankYou for these recipes:

• Jamie Olver cooks up a simple Ham & Spring Greens dish featuring cabbage in this video.
• Another version of Cabbage Soup from Emeril Lagasse.
• Ham Hock & Cabbage Soup from the Cavemanfood blog.
• Culinary Disasters throws in potatoes in its recipe here.
• And That’s My Home offers a lentil soup using cabbage and ham hocks.

An added benefit: Making these soups can be as rewarding as eating them. Enjoy!