Cabbage Becomes Casserole For Dinner

Beautiful cabbage

Large pan of cabbage and potatoes

Shopping at Giant recently I was captivated enough to buy an amazingly fresh-looking green cabbage. I brought it home and wondered for a whole day how I would cook it rather than staring at it in wonder. I even photo'd it as I was impressed with how it looked. So I tweeted about what I should do with it and a friend tweeted back with some ideas about combining the cabbage with potatoes and onions. So I steamed some of the chopped-up cabbage, boiled some sliced potatoes and cut onions in rings. I also fried some nitrite-free lowfat bacon and considered some suitable spices to add (sprinkles of cumin and a pinch of salt).  So I made three layers of cabbage, onions and potatoes, adding in the cut up cooked bacon and spices. I also sprinkled in some layers of mozzarella cheese. I cooked the whole thing for about 40 minutes in a hot oven and served it steaming hot. And photo'd the final dish even though you really can't see the cabbage pieces inside which were different shades of yellow and green when cooked.  This was a tasty and delicious meal.  Even cabbage-hating hubster ate some of it. If someone was vegetarian, I imagine they could substitute something else for the bacon, but that flavor seems essential to me when combined with the cabbage. Simply deelish!

Winter Beef and Fruit Soup

Today I got creative in the kitchen with some leftover and already cooked sweet potatoes, carrots, apricots, asparagus tips, cauliflower florets, and a cup of home made sweet apple sauce. Most of these were left over from Thanksgiving dinner and not really very large portions. So, I added a teaspoon of curry powder and a dash each of the brown spices (black pepper, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and cloves) and some soy sauce to color it for some extra flavors.  Then I pitched in some cut-up leftover sirloin tips and shredded beef slices. This stew was left to cook on the crock pot high setting for a couple of hours while de-hoarding the garage.  About two hours later we were ravenous and I served this Winter Stew with a little bread, and it was delishus!  Thank God for leftover vegetables, bits of beef and spices!