An excellent soup for those cool, rainy evenings. If you make it with olive oil, it is completely vegetarian. The bread and cheese are optional but make the soup especially satisfying. Serves 4, or 2 as a meal. By CSAer Chris Lehrich.

1 thick slice of bacon OR 3 Tb olive oil
1 onion
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
1 head Napa cabbage
salt and pepper
6 cups water
4 slices flavorful white bread (sourdough, French, Italian, etc.)
Cheese (Cheddar, Gruy?re, Parmesan, Romano, Emmenthal are all good)
one oven-proof bowl per person

Dice bacon fine, if using. Dice onion, carrot, and celery. Core cabbage and set the cabbage aside, but dice the core except for the root part.

In a 3-4 quart pot over medium-low heat, cook the bacon until golden-brown, then pour off all but 3 tablespoons fat, leaving bacon in the pot OR heat oil over medium-low heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and diced cabbage core and cook gently 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown.

Slice cabbage crosswise into thin strips and add to pot with a generous sprinkle of salt. Stir and cook 10 minutes.

Add water and bring to a boil over high heat. Pepper generously, lower heat, cover, and simmer 1 hour. Correct seasoning and simmer uncovered while preparing to serve.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toast the bread slices and place one in the bottom of each bowl (or two slices if serving as a meal). Ladle soup over toast, then shave or grate a layer of cheese on top. Bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.