Ground Pork Stew with Greens & Beans!

I love making soups in huge batches, as I then have something light and simple for lunches for the rest of the week (usually). Since we've all put on some pounds over the holidays (which is fine, it's winter!), I feel like soups are the best way to trim your waistline and get your health back in order without sacrificing taste.

This recipe was adapted from this Kalyn's Kitchen recipe, which is where I get a majority of my low-carb recipes. I apologize, no pictures of the making process, as I started this blog after I had it all ready to go in the slow cooker.

P.S. A Crock Pot is one of your best friends.



Ingredients:

1 T. olive oil
1 lb. lean ground pork or beef (I used pork, because that was what I had)
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed
1 lb. diced tomatoes (you could also use canned tomatoes, but I had fresh ones in my fridge)
1 cup of tomato sauce (if you use canned tomatoes in juice, I think you can skip this)
1 T. dried thyme
1 t. cayenne pepper (I like it spicy--use less if you don't)
4 cups of homemade beef stock (or 2 cans of beef stock and some water)
2 cups of water
Salt and ground pepper to taste
2 cups cabbage (I used savoy), thinly sliced and chopped
1 cup spinach, chopped
3 T. white wine vinegar (or more if, like me, you like the flavor)
Sour cream and/or cheese of choice (I used feta) to garnish

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a pan. Add ground meat and brown.

Place onion, celery, garlic, beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, thyme, cayenne, beef stock, water, and browned meat into your slow cooker and cook on high for 4-6 hours, or low (if you're going to be out all day) for 8-10 hours. It's that easy!

About an hour before serving, taste the soup and season with salt and ground pepper, and anything else you might want to throw in. Add the chopped cabbage and spinach, and allow to cook for another hour. Before serving, stir in vinegar.

Garnish with sour cream and/or cheese (or not) and enjoy! It's really that easy!

Update: Just an FYI, the amount of water you add can be adjusted according to how liquid-y you like your soups. If you like them REALLY chunky and more like a stew, reduce the water.

Also, if you're a Sriracha nut like me, I think it'd taste really good in this.