Well, our farmers have managed to do it again: give us these beautiful vegetables. How do they do it?
This time, it’s a cabbage the size of my head (and I have a big head). Several of our members have sent me recipes on how to tackle this vegetable. I love cabbage–cooked (stuffed), fermented (sauerkraut), raw (slaw), pickled. It tends to be prepared on the sour and salty side, which is probably why I like it so.
This recipe suggestion, from member Jamie Lubekin:
This one includes both cabbage and red potatoes, both from our last week’s harvest:
www.eatingwell.com/recipes/colcannon.html
www.eatingwell.com/recipes/warm_cabbage_salad.html
For the adventurous—I found this recipe for sauerkraut, which I thought about making a while back, but decided against it as it requires open air fermentation and well, in Brooklyn, the air, well. . . (Let me know if you’ve done it! I’d love to hear about it)
chetday.com/sauerkrautrecipe.htm
This recipe is from member Barbara Rosen (which I’ve modified to include amounts).
STUFFED CABBAGE:
This recipe is time consuming, but it makes a lot. You can freeze the leftovers for other nights.
Low salt, no cholesterol, lots of fiber.
CABBAGE:
1 big, leafy cabbage
FILLING:
cooked brown rice (2 uncooked cups, measured)
1 fine diced large onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1 pound of real or fake sausage (Prosage)
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
1 bay leaf
1/2 c. of fresh chopped parsley
black pepper and salt, to taste
SAUCE:
2 cans of concentrated, crushed tomatoes (she likes Redpack and Cook’s Illustrated does too!)
one can of tomato puree
1. Peel away outermost leafy layers of the cabbage and steam it a big pot. Peel away the leaves as they become soft.
2. Sautee onions and garlic in olive oil, add all canned tomatoes, season to taste with black pepper, oregano, basil, and bay leaf. Let it simmer for at least an hour.
3. If using sausage, mix with rice and flavor with salt and pepper.
4. When the sauce and mix are ready, start stuffing the softened leaves: one handful of mix in the center, fold sides in and roll.
5. Cover the bottom of a large pot with a thin layer of olive oil. Place each stuffed leaf in the bottom. When the bottom layer is in place, pour spaghetti sauce over it and begin another layer. Keep adding layers until you run out of filling; then cut up the rest of the cabbage and lay it on top to cook with the rest.
Optional:
Add 1 cup of cheddar cheese (diced) to the rice mixture
Add a layer of sauerkraut after each cabbage roll layer
