Cabbage Roll Soup with Kale

1 pound leanest ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3 1/2 cups water
3 (15- or 16-ounce) cans low-sodium beef broth
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes with Italian herbs or 2 (1-pound) cans Italian-style stewed tomatoes*
1 (1-pound) package shredded cabbage
1 cup sliced carrot
1/2 cup sliced celery
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
A few squirts hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 (1-pound) bag Cut `n Clean Greens Kale**
1/2 cup uncooked white rice***
Garnish: Grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

In a large stockpot, brown ground beef with chopped onion.

Add all other ingredients except kale, rice and cheese to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to lowest, cover and cook about 2 hours. Stir once or twice during this cooking time if you can.

Add half the bag of kale (save the rest for another use) and rice, stirring well to submerge.

Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes. (Soup will cook a total of 2 1/2 hours.)

Taste soup and adjust salt to your liking; soup is deliberately under salted to allow for individual preference.

Serve in soup bowls, and sprinkle 1 tablespoon or so of grated cheese on top of each individual serving.

* If you have canned diced tomatoes instead of stewed or crushed, by all means use that.
** If you prefer a different kind of cooking green, feel free to substitute your favorite.
*** If you don’t have rice but you have a small cut pasta, use that instead.

Servings: 8
Source: San Miguel Produce Inc.