Use Up Your Veggies Chowder

I wanted to make soup tonight, but I didn't know what kind of soup I wanted.  I had bought some hominy to make a soup, but alas, I have no clue where the recipe is that uses the hominy.  :::smackin' mah forehead:::  So, I started flipping through an inch tall stack of recipes that I had printed out with the intention of making them.  I happened upon Chickpea Gumbo from Fatfree Vegan.

I had all good intentions of making the recipe as is, but then ... I needed to use a half head of cabbage that I had and I needed to start using some of the potatoes I had bought.  I also wanted to use up some seitan I had in the freezer.  I wanted it to be a little spicier.  So, I ended up loosely following Susan Voisin's recipe but turning it into my own, which I feel is more of a chowder.  It's not as thick as a gumbo.  I also ended up making a WHOLE LOT MORE than I intended to.  I'll be freezing some of this soup.  Here's what I put in my chowder.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 28 oz. can diced petite tomatoes
1 14 oz. can diced petite tomatoes with onion, green pepper, and celery
1 4oz. can of mild green chilies (chopped)
1 32 oz. carton of organic mushroom broth
6 cups of hot water mixed (heated in the microwave)
1 no salt added veggie bouillon cube
1 no-chicken bouillon cube
3 Russet potatoes, diced (any white potato would work)
2 cups of chickpeas (I cooked dry beans in my pressure cooker yesterday and froze them)
1 16 oz. package of chopped okra (frozen)
1/2 head of cabbage, sliced very thinly
8 oz. of seitan, diced
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried jalapeno flakes
2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon diced garlic (dried variety from Penzey's - equivalent to 2 cloves)
1 teaspoon Hickory flavored Liquid Smoke
1/2 teaspoon of Siracha hot sauce (boy IS it HOT!, so I only used a little)

I used my Vidalia Onion Chopper to chop the onion, celery, green pepper, and potato, so all of those veggies were a consistent size, I'd say 1/2" squares.  I also chopped the seitan to the same size (1/2" square).  I started out cooking in a 5 quart pot, but ended up having to transfer it to an 8 quart pot as the cabbage was just overwhelming the smaller pot and I needed to add additional water to cover it (the 6 cups of water includes the extra water).  I did the usual with the holy trinity, and then added everything else, covered it, and let it cook for had to be an hour, stirring occasionally.  It took it 20 minutes to boil and then I turned the flame down to just simmer the soup.  I let it simmer until the brown rice was done.

I had this over brown rice, but this would be equally good without the rice.  Also, I added a splash of Red Hot Cayenne Pepper Sauce.  In fact, I'll be taking this to work for lunch and I won't bring the rice.  It's enough without the rice to be a satisfying and filling meal.  I like it a lot.  I'll definitely be making this again, but I'm sure I'll be cutting the recipe in half because it made a TON!