Post updated: I made a version of this soup 3 times during my stay in tyrol, one purple cabbage can go so far! This version I used tomatoes in the base of the soup and squeezed some lemon juice at the end. It is not like the traditional soup I was going for in my original post but I thought I should add it in because of this distinct colour which came out much stronger than the other versions, this is due to to the acidity of the tomatoes.

STEEMIT IRON CHEF 2018 Act 01 Round 06
😈 - Purple Tyrolian Mountain Soup - ⛰
🍲 -The dish of my Life- 🍜

This weeks #steemit-ironchef Act 01 Round 06 food challenge run by @progressivechef is to use a local fruit or vegetable. Normally I live in Catalonia where there is a wider variety of fruit and vegetables at this time of year but this week I made a trip to see my 92 year old grandma in the Austrian Tyrolian Alps.

It's pretty cold here and the flu has been circling around. I was starting to feel sick and my family were offering me bone broth soup. As a convert vegan I didn't want anything to do with but as a child, I loved the taste of home cooked Austrian broth soup. Semolina dumpling soup / pancake soup / meat soup / all salty, warming and hearty all the things you need in cold weather. As a vegan I do eat a lot of soups anyway but for this task I wanted replicate that flavor of grandmas Tyrol mountain style soup but a cruelty free version. Using the purple cabbage normally gives soup this rich deep color like a bone broth does. The key to making it taste truly authentic is salt and chives! Here chives are used on most things, potatoes, salad and always soups!

So for me the dish of my life is simple, rustic, an everyday necessity with healing properties, that brings back those warm comforting memories from childhood.

So I took a trip to the local shops, there are only 2 options for buying food here, a small Spar supermarket and a larger Mpreis. I'm not a big fan of supermarket shopping, I prefer supporting smaller business but these are the only options and both are quite good for keeping local produce as well as some organic stuff.

The mountains are covered in thick blankets of snow and I wouldn't imagine that much would be available but surprisingly there was one of my favorite vegetables that I eat raw daily in Spain, the purple cabbage or Blaukraut in German. This vegetable is my life, so I had to use it for making the dish of my life. I also choose some other produce that was grown in Austria to go with it and ideally organic.

My ingredients were...

-Purple Cabbage (Tyrol)
-Carrots (Austrian / organic)
-Broccoli (Austrian / organic)
-Leek (Tyrol)
-Chestnut mushrooms (Tyrol / organic)
-Onion (Austria)
-Chinese cabbage (Austria)

Other ingredients not from Austria...

-Garlic
-Ginger
-Oregano
-Garam Masala spice
-Himalaya Salt
-Chives (normally chives are readily available in Austria but not this time of year)
-Left over water from cooking beans to make base of broth

As you can see I've gone for slight oriental twist, with the Chinese cabbage, curry seasoning and ginger. Actually the first batch I made didn't have these in it and it still tasted good. But I had to make the soup again because I realized I forgot to take a picture with a note to validate my recipe. Instead of doing exactly the same soup again I thought i'd make this one a bit more exotic. Both worked well but the oriental style has even more flavor and healing properties.

Finally the most important part is to add fresh Chives to the dish and serve with rustic farm house bread. So there it is, Rustic Tyrolian Mountain Soup and it definitely did the trick, I don't feel sick anymore and instead I have the warm and fuzzy feeling inside!

Please check out my other post with photos of my warming cacao, coconut and hazelnut porridge with more beautiful pictures of the Austrian Alps....

So why is the purple cabbage so good?

One of the main reasons why red cabbage is such a popular vegetable addition to meals is the wealth of phytochemicals, antioxidants, nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Some of these essential components include thiamin, riboflavin, folate, calcium, manganese, magnesium, iron, and potassium, as well as vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin K, dietary fiber, and the B vitamins. Its organic compounds are almost too many to list, but its antioxidants like anthocyanins and indoles are extremely valuable for human health.

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For more health and diet tips, check out @celestialcow....

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