Several Uses for Cabbage

Cabbage's cheap, yummy, healthy and has a long shelf life. What's not to love about it. And as soon as the fresh dark green savoy (or non-savoy for that matter) start showing up at the farmer's market, I end up in a crisis to use up all the overwhelming quantities that I buy.

Ways to use it up (because you always end up with SO MUCH, right?):

• Raw Salted Cabbage Leafs - would have never thought to do this until I saw my dad doing it. Turns out is super yummy
• Thai Larb - this recipe uses lettuce, but IMO, cabbage cups are WAY better
• Indian Spiced Curry Kraut
• Traditional Sauerkraut
• Kimchi (there are so many good kraut recipes. I could keep going here). 
• Egg Rolls
• Upgraded Instant Ramen Noodles - Add shredded cabbage, fresh ginger, fish oil, lemon juice, red pepper, thai basil, sesame oil, shrimp/chicken/tofu, small amount of soy (you get the idea)
• Vinagrette Based Cole Slaw
• Galumpkis (stuffed cabbage leaves)
• Vegetarian Galumpkis
• Fish Tacos (or any taco for that matter, just put vinagrette based cole slaw on it instead of lettuce)
• Stir Fry
• Chicken Yakisoba - I can't get enough of this one
• Creamy cabbage soup - there's a million variations of this, but basically chicken broth, whole milk, cabbage, salt and pepper alone it yummy.
• Cabbage and Kielbasa Soup: Literally delicious with just those 2 ingredients (add water and maybe pepper and salt to taste). You can sub chicken broth if you want. Add onions, carrots, potatoes, but the cabbage and kielbasa are the stars here and most anything else takes away from it, IMO. 
• Cabbage added to almost any soup, really. 

Vegetarian Galumpkis (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)

This is a traditional Polish dish. Very simple, cheap, & tastey.

Normally this would be made with ground beef or sausage, but I was going extra cheap & easy (didn't want to defrost the meat). Honestly, I think it turned out even better than usual.

Cook up 1 cup of dried rice.
Meanwhile, chop up a box of mushrooms (or 2 even, but I only used one).
Finely dice 1/2 medium onion & 2 cloves of garlic
Warn up a wrought iron skillet on medium-high until good and hot.
Put a few drops of oil on the pan and toss in the mushrooms.
Resist the temptation to stir the mushrooms. You want them to get good a browned before they start releasing too much water. Once your'e sure they're good and brown, then stir once and let them brown again. Now add your onions and garlic and let them brown too. Remove from heat.

Boil water and place several whole cabbage leaves (about 12) in the boiling water until they're tender. Remove cabbage leaves and run under cool water.

Once rice is done, combine ingredients and add cumin and soy sauce to taste (just enough cumin to give it a little earthy meatiness, but not so much that it tastes Mexican).

Assembly rice mixture into cabbage leaves and roll up like an egg roll. Place in a shallow dish. Top the cabbage rolls with v-8 juice (I'm pretty generous with this step). That rice absorbs a lot of moisture.

Crack pepper on top.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Fish Taco Salad - Atkins Friendly

My parents are on the Atkins diet, so made this for dinner with them. Dad says it's the best thing I've ever  made, so figured I'd post it here to share.

Cabbage Slaw

Finely Sliced Cabbage (one small bag)

Half of a bunch of finely sliced scallions

A few leafs worth of finely diced kale

Apple cider vinegar and olive oil to taste (2 to 1 ratio)

Salt and pepper to taste

Pico de Gallo

1 Avocado diced

1 Medium tomato diced

1 Small onion very finely diced

1 Large garlic clove (or two small) finely diced

1 Lemon or Lime 

Small bunch of finely diced cilantro

Small bunch of finely diced fresh parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cream Sauce

Big dollop of sour cream

Lots of Louisiana's hot sauce (until, when mixed it's colored like thousand island)

Salt

Chipotle Pepper Seasoning (to taste)

Fish

Mahi Mahi (can probably substitute other fish like Tilapia, cod, etc...)

Dry Rub

Unfortunately, I didn't measure this. Just applied it directly to each filet until it looked fairly well coated

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Cumin
Paprika

Zaa'tar (basically lemon thyme with a little bit of sesame seed)

Fresh Oregeno (only b/c I didn't have dry)

Salt

Pepper

Chili Powder (just a little)

Cinnamin (just a little)

Then sprinkled a little soy sauce on it until it was pastey and I could rub the seasoning all over

Once the fish has marinated, I cooked it on a George Foreman grill. I never cooked fish on this thing before, but it was absolutely perfect and it's the only way I'll cook this type of fish (thick white filet) from now on. It cooks very fast (just cook it until it has nice looking grill marks). It felt like about 3 or 4 minutes total, no flipping. 

Homemade Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut. So nutritious. So yummy. So cheap. Just do it. 

• Medium-Small Fresh Cabbage with loose outer leaves removed finely sliced (not chopped). Using a mandolin is best. 
• 1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1.5 Tbsp sea salt (no iodine)
• Toss together in a large bowl. Tamp into mason jar in layers using a meat tenderizer mallet (it's hard to over tamp. give it a good effort)
• If cabbage is already covered in it's own brine, great, you're done. If not, wait a couple hours, come back, tamp some more if necessary. If it's still not covered, make up a brine that tastes about as salty as typical kraut. Pour it over the cabbage. 
• Now you just want to keep every single piece of cabbage under that brine. If you want, you can cut out a circular piece of thick green cabbage leaf to sit on top (it needs to stay submerged too). Then fill up a small glass or water (or some sort of weight) to sit on top and hold the cabbage down. 
• Lay a light cloth on top to keep out dust. Let ferment for 1-3 weeks (speed varies by temperature). Supposedly the best tasting is at slightly lower room temperatures over more time. The warmer it is, the faster it goes. 
• Keep tasting periodically to see if it tastes ready. It will stink in a less pleasant way the first few days, so don't worry about that yet. If you see mold / spots appear on top (because a bit of cabbage touched the air), just scoop out that piece of cabbage and the spots and wipe down the side of the glass. 
• Once it's ready, just keep it in the fridge. If you eat it fairly soon after sticking in the fridge, it will be a fair but crunchier than store bought kraut (much yummier, I think). I like cutting up just a bit of darker green leaves. Prettier that way. 

Note: homemade kraut has the beneficial bacteria in it where as store bought has been pasteurized and all bacteria (the good stuff) is killed. 

Simple Healthy Food Time & Money Savers

Lately, I've been busier than usual. It's often tempting to get fast food or buy foods that are already made (which is very difficult to find if your criteria is inexpensive and healthy). So this is a small list of time saving healthy foodies, I've come across, that don't break the bank.

Simply cabbage and carrots and in the right quantity. A whole head of cabbage is always too much for me, and I like it better never frozen. I use this for stir fry, homemade ramen, soups, and actual slaw. Getting just cabbage/carrots is the cheapest. Then I can add my own tid bits of broccoli. 

I didn't realize how much more often I'd use ginger, until I bought this stuff on Amazon. Tastes just like freshly cut ginger.

Crushed garlic preserved with citric acid. I love trader joes!

Granted, this is an all in one meal (add rice), but a) they're as simple as it gets, b) they're really healthy, c) they're fabulously delicious, and d) they go on really big sales. When they do, I buy them out. Makes for a great easy week night meal (add some veggies and rice). I usually have a freezer full of chopped veggies to add. Easy-Peasy.

Mirpoix - Carrots, Celery and Onion. Granted, you do have to take time to chop it up, but you can freeze about a 6-month supply and just pull a little out as you go. I use this in about half the things I cook (roasted chicken, stir fry, beans and rice, soups, etc....)

Fully stocked freezer full of frozen veggies. No worries, it won't go bad. My staples are mirpoix (see above), corn, peas, limas, spinach, cauliflower, bell peppers (chopped myself) and broccoli. I'm not a huge fan of the store bought mixes. They always taste funny.

Chicken bone broth saved to ice cube trays for easy re-use. Granted this takes effort, sure, but if you make a big batch, later it's really easy to use (particularly if you have some of it in ice cube size quantities). That way you don't really have to "defrost". I hate that step. We cook a whole hen on the weekend, shred all the chicken for use throughout the week, then boil the bones overnight to make broth. You could simplify this even further but buying the sale rotisserie chickens and make the broth from the leftovers in that. This broth is way better (and healthier I think) than any store bought broth, plus it's leftovers, so it's free! Boiling those bones gives it that cloudy appearance which is collagen and some extra vitamins and enzymes. It's also good for inflammation reduction when sick (read more here)

I can't always find this stuff, but when I do, I buy a bunch. You can freeze it and it tastes exactly like fresh  lemon (unlike that other lemon juice stuff you buy) and no preservatives. So easy. And cheaper than buying lemons too. 

Kapusta z Grochem (Another Sauerkraut Recipe)

So, I made a batch (a large batch) of sauerkraut, and maybe, just maybe, I'm the only one in the house that likes (LOVES) it. But that doesn't stop me from looking for recipes to incorporate sauerkraut into that other members of the household might learn to love.

Came across this recipe that sounded a bit compelling b/c of it's lack of pork (I like pork like the everyone but just not most of the time) and b/c of it's Catholic tradition. Kapusta z Grochem, btw, is Polish for peas and cabbage (sauerkraut).

To must people, I realize this might not sound very good, but I'm not most people. I complete lifted this recipe (verbatim) from: http://www.sauerkrautrecipes.com/recipe4476.shtml and will report back tomorrow after we have it for dinner. I'm virtually certain we'll have at least one fan.

1 package dried split peas
2 large jars sauerkraut (not Bavarian style)
2 cups chopped yellow or white onion
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
salt and pepper to taste.

Pour split peas into large bowl, cover with water plus 1", cover bowl with towel or plastic wrap, and let sit overnight to soften.
Rinse split peas in colander & place in a large heavy pot & cover with water. Cover with lid & bring to a boil, then simmering until peas soften. Mash slightly with potato masher if needed.
In a large frying pan, melt butter over medium heat & add chopped onion, sauteeing until transparent. Add drained rinsed sauerkraut & cook until heated through.

Add sauerkraut to peas, stirring well & adding salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer on low heat for about an hour. This is really best made the day before you plan to serve it, as the flavors really intensify overnight. It's a good idea to add a bit of water if the soup sits longer than 24 hours as it tends to thicken slightly. Serve with a rich egg bread for dunking. Best served in shallow soup dishes as an appetizer. This is a traditional Christmas Eve dish in our family.

*Note: these measurements, w/ the exception of the split peas and jars of sauerkraut, are estimated. You can add more onions or butter, salt and pepper. This makes quite alot & freezes really well. Add a bit of water to reconstitute when thawed.

Cook Time: Approximately 2 hours