Napa Cabbage and Bean Soup {A Meatless Monday Recipe

This Napa cabbage and bean soup is a prime example of why I don’t mind going meatless on Mondays. It’s vegetarian comfort food!

Sometimes, I buy veggies without even knowing what I will do with them, but I have to say this is the first time I have ever purchased the wrong vegetable and did not know until long after eating the meal!

Yep, the soup recipe I was using called for escarole. Still, somehow, between my being oblivious to what escarole looked like and the mislabeled produced, I used Napa cabbage instead of the escarole.

Of course, I did not discover this until I sat down to write this post. I realized what had happened when I became curious to know more about escarole and its nutritional benefits. I noticed my pictures were completely different from the ones in my search. Imagine how embarrassing it would have been to call a Napa cabbage “escarole”!

After laughing myself silly at what had happened, I realized that when it came down to it, it didn’t matter. This excellent soup became part of my simple, easy suppers rotation. I don’t know how it could get any better. David and I both loved this recipe and have fallen madly in love with this Chinese cabbage soup.

What is Napa Cabbage?

Napa cabbage is an oval-shaped, yellowish-green cabbage popular in Asian cooking. It’s much more delicate than a regular green cabbage, making it easy to eat the stem. Its flavor is delicious and becomes sweeter when cooked.

What to look for when purchasing a napa cabbage:

You don’t have to go to Asian supermarkets to find napa cabbage. Most supermarkets carry them on the produce aisle.

Look for light green leaves or yellowish-green in color, free of blemishes. The cabbage should be firm and compact, with bright white ribs tightly wrapped around the stem. Avoid cabbage with wilted leaves and brown spots.

Ingredients

The recipe card at the end of this post lists the complete ingredient list with measurements.

Oil: Any cooking oil will do. I always use extra virgin olive oil. Use your favorite oil.

Garlic: whole raw garlic cloves, smashed and peeled only.

Red Pepper Flakes: for heat (optional)

Napa Cabbage: leaves cut into 2-inch pieces. If you cannot find napa cabbage, bok choy or savoy cabbage would be a great substitute.

Red Kidney Beans: I make this a fast recipe and use canned beans. Make sure you drain and rinse the beans to control the sodium in the soup.

Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans): drained and rinsed canned beans.

Broth: To keep this recipe vegetarian, use vegetable broth.

Seasoning: Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

For Serving: lemon wedges and crusty bread

How To Make Napa Cabbage and Bean Soup

Ready in just 30 minutes, this delicious and simple soup is so flavorful you’ll be ladling more soup into your bowl before you know what hit you.

Here’s a basic overview of how to make this soup. The recipe card at the end of this post provides detailed instructions with times and temperatures.

Prepare the Napa Cabbage

Cut: Cut the bottom off the cabbage, then peel away the cabbage leaves; cut or tear into two-inch pieces. The whole cabbage is edible.

Rinse: Rinse the leaves with cold water and allow them to drain, or use a salad spinner to remove excess water. This will keep the oil from spattering when the cabbage is added.

Sauté

Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat; add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute, stirring, until the oil becomes fragrant (do not brown).

Add cabbage, toss to coat, and season with salt to taste. Cook until the cabbage is just wilted.

Toss the beans and chickpeas into a strainer and rinse with cold water. Then add the beans and broth to the cabbage pot; boil, then reduce and simmer.

Remove the garlic cloves—season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serving This Soup

Serve with crusty bread, lemon wedges, and red pepper flakes.

Recipe Tips

• Drying the cabbage leaves as much as possible is essential since they will go into hot oil.
• Although the entire head of cabbage is edible, I remove square stem pieces. It makes the soup more appetizing.
• Make sure you drain and rinse the beans to reduce and control sodium.
• Don’t forget to take out the garlic. Biting down on whole cloves of garlic is gross!

It is dishes like this that could easily turn me into a vegetarian. This soup is rich and flavorful, even if I used the wrong veggie…lol!