Sweet & Sour Beef-Cabbage Soup

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pound lean (90% or leaner) ground beef
1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 1/2 cups frozen bell pepper and onion mix, thawed, chopped
1 medium Golden Delicious or other sweet-tart cooking apple, unpeeled, diced
6 cups beef broth
1 15-ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon paprika, preferably Hungarian sweet
3 cups coarsely chopped Savoy, or green cabbage
1-2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Use reduced-sodium beef broth to severely cut the sodium in this recipe! (Current nutrition info is based on a normal beef broth.)

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add beef, caraway seeds and thyme and cook, stirring and breaking up the beef with a spoon, until it is mostly browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in pepper-onion mix and apple; cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes more.

Stir in broth, tomatoes, honey and paprika and adjust the heat so the mixture boils gently. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes to blend the flavors. Stir in cabbage and cook just until barely tender, 3 to 4 minutes more. Season with vinegar to taste, salt and pepper.

Serving Size: Makes six servings, about 1 3/4 cups each

Number of Servings: 6

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user LADYPIXEL.