Cabbage patch
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
I love cabbage. It’s nice raw, steamed, baked or pickled.
Green or purple, cabbage is a helpful, healthful, cruciferous veggie.
Cabbages come in several forms, from the traditional round head to elongated Napa to the lovely, exotic bok choy.
One cup of raw green cabbage has 30 calories, no fat, lots of Vitamins K and C, potassium, and 15 percent of your daily fiber — that’s good!
I love a good Reuben, but it’s not the healthiest sandwich on the face of the planet. This recipe tries to amend that: it makes four sandwiches, each of which will have approximately 450 calories and about 40 grams of fat. That’s at least 50 percent better than a normal Rueben, and it’s tasty!
LOW(ER) FAT REUBEN
Butter flavored spray
8 slices rye bread
16 oz. sliced corned beef
8 slices low fat Swiss cheese
1 cup sauerkraut, drained
1/2 cup light Thousand Island dressing
Preheat a large skillet or griddle. Lay the bread slices out on a counter and spread with Thousand Island dressing. On four of them, layer one slice swiss cheese, four ounces of corned beef, 1/4 cup sauerkraut and a second slice of swiss cheese. Top with remaining bread slices, and spritz the tops with butter flavored spray (or olive oil, your choice).
Grill the sandwiches, butter side down, and spray the exposed side. Flip after five minutes, pressing down with your spatula to help the cheese bind it all together. Serve Reubens hot with a cold dill pickle — absolutely delicious!
Kim Chee is an acquired taste. Many people joke about kim chee being rotten, but it’s fermented just like a sauerkraut. It can be very hot, or just a little spicy like this recipe from author Cherie Stihler of Alaska. She writes children’s books, and has a nice web site at www.cheriestihler.com.
This recipe makes about 1 quart; you could quarter it as a test batch. Try it. You just might like it!
KIM CHEE CHERIE
2 lbs. bok choy cabbage
1/2 cup coarse salt
4 cups water
1-1/2 Tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 green onions, finely chopped
Rinse the cabbage in cold water and drain. Cut it into one-and-a-half inch squares. Sprinkle with salt, cover with 4 cups water, and let stand overnight.
Rinse the cabbage in fresh, cold water and drain well. Blend the remaining ingredients and stir this well into the cabbage pieces. Pack into a quart jar and cover tightly. Place the jar in a tightly sealed plastic bag to prevent the odors from spreading to other foods. Refrigerate four to five days to cure, and serve as a condiment to just about anything, from omelets to egg rolls.
I saw Emeril do some cabbage rolls once, and thought they looked pretty good. I dug up his recipe, tweaked it a little for myself and came up with this. These heat up well for leftovers.
CABBAGE ROLLS
Sauce:
Olive oil spray
1 cup onions, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 (28-oz.) can chopped tomatoes and their juices
1 cup vegetable stock
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
Rolls:
1 large head cabbage
2 tsp. butter
1 cup onions, chopped
2 tsp. chopped garlic
1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1/3 cup Eggbeaters
2 tsp. Emeril’s Essence
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. To make the sauce, spritz a saucepan with olive oil to coat and heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock, cover and simmer for five minutes. Add the vinegar and continue simmering, uncovered, until the sauce thickens (about five minutes). Remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning with some salt and pepper to taste.
Submerge the cored cabbage head in boiling water until it softens (the leaves need to be flexible). Remove and cool a bit, then separate the cabbage leaves in whole pieces. Trim out the hard part of the spine from each leaf, spread on paper towels and pat dry.
Time to make the stuffing! Melt the butter in a medium skillet. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until very wilted and starting to caramelize, about five minutes. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring, for one minute. Remove from the heat and let cool a bit. In a large bowl, combine this with the beef, pork, rice, eggs and Essence. Add salt and pepper as you like and mix well.
Lay the cabbage leaves, rib side down, on a flat work surface. Lightly spray a baking dish with olive oil. Spoon 1/4 cup of the filling into the center of the cabbage leaves. Roll up just like a burrito and place in a single layer, seam side down, in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, stacking the cabbage rolls as necessary.
Pour sauce over the rolls, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake until the meat is cooked through and the rolls are tender, about 2 hours. Serve nice and hot with some whole grain bread and maybe a little horseradish-mustard dip.
Next week we’ll get ready for strawberry season. The challenge now is for our last week in March. Since March came in like a lion, let’s try going out with some LAMB. You know you love it. Send that delicious recipe to me at murphysmenu@yahoo.com or The Emporia Gazette, P.O. Box C, Emporia, Kansas 66801. Let’s get cooking!