cabbage

Sweet and Sour Unstuffed Cabbage

Wheat-free * Dairy-free * Gluten-free *  Paleo ~~ 

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My grandmother made the world’s best stuffed cabbage.  I have the recipe and have made it occasionally but it’s such a pain to make the cabbage rolls that it’s enough to discourage all but the most determined cook – and frankly I’m rarely that determined.  Here is where my sister comes in.  She is a natural out-of-the-box thinker and she created unstuffed cabbage.  You make the meatballs and just cook them in the same sauce as the stuffed cabbage, but add lots of shredded cabbage.  YUM and easy!

The challenge of converting this recipe to paleo was the meatballs because grandma always put rice in with the meat and since I don’t eat rice, I needed something the give the meatballs more interest and keep them from becoming too dry.  After many tries I finally came up with this recipe that I just love.

First I added pork to the beef to add moisture (grandma definitely did not use pork as she was kosher).  Then I added the cauliflower and potato flakes to capture the moisture and make the meat fluffier.  Onion and garlic – well I don’t have to tell you what onion and garlic do.  A little tomato sauce also adds to both texture and flavor.

I am so happy with the results I have to restrain myself from going back not just for seconds, but also for third and fourth servings.

Now that I have totally convinced you that Unstuffed Cabbage is the way to go, for anyone who still likes their cabbage stuffed, just use this filling and roll it up in parboiled cabbage leaves and cook according to the recipe

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BTW I freeze these in individual servings and when I need a quick dinner just pop one in the microwave.

Hope you love this as much as I do.
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Red Cabbage and Sweet Potato Salad

Wheat-free * Dairy-free * Gluten-free * Vegetarian * Vegan * Parve * Paleo ~~        CIMG2617-001

Cook outs, picnics, barbecues, pot lucks.  Summer is the ideal time of year for entertaining and parties.   I have a dim memory of having a salad something like this at my friend Paula’s house for Thanksgiving.  She said she was tired of all the standard sweet potato recipes and made this salad instead.  I thought the combination of ingredients was amazingly delicious – which is why I remember it all these years later – but I am sad to report it ‘s not a good vehicle for the roasted marshmallows that usually come along with sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving.

How did I get side tracked from summer entertaining?  I brought this salad with me to a pot luck and it was a BIG hit.  In fact, although I say it serves 6 to 8 – it was completely polished off by six women of a certain age.  The good news is this recipe is easily doubled if you are cooking for a crowd.

Happy summer outing – enjoy!
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Portuguese Sausage and Vegetable Soup

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I have always loved “soup meals” during the colder months (although this year you could hardly have called October or now November cold months).  This morning I went out to walk the dog,

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felt the nip in the air, came in and immediately went to the kitchen to make soup.

A soup meal is more than just a bowl of soup.  It’s soup laced with enough protein, starch, and vegetables that you don’t need anything more to make a complete meal…well, in the BP (before Paleo) days I would have added some crispy bread to the menu.  The reasons that I love soup meals are many:

It can be made in large batches and freezes well so you can alway have an easy/quick meal on hand

Easy clean-up:  In addition to being a one spoon, one bowl meal, it’s usually also a one pot meal.

If you have a crock pot/slow cooker (and know how to use it) it can be prepared in the morning and then is ready by dinner

I started cooking soup meals when my dad was on Chemo.  His taste buds and appetite had changed; food no longer interested him and he was just getting thinner and thinner.  He was, however, willing to eat soup – so I would “hide” lots of small pieces of meat or chicken and some kind of starch (rice or barley or potatoes) in my soups and he would eat the whole thing.  If you have a friend or loved one who is having a hard time eating, try a soup meal and see if it does the trick.

I adapted this soup from a recipe I wrote for “1,000 Vegetarian Recipes” – obviously there was no sausage or ham in that recipe, but I remember loving the combination of cabbage, greens, and potatoes.  I used hot Italian sausages but I will warn you that the soup is pretty spicy – you may want to use sweet Italian sausages or some combination of the two (I’ve made this sometimes using turkey sausage and sometimes pork), but you can also use cooked sausages like Kielbassa or maybe even frankfurters or cured meats like corned beef or tongue (though I honestly haven’t tried any of those yet).

In any case…look for more soup meals in the near future.

Enjoy!
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Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup

Wheat-free * Dairy-free * Gluten-free * Vegetarian * Vegan * Parve * Paleo

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I Love blizzards. When I went out shopping this afternoon the snow was coming down so hard that the flakes were more like micro-snowballs and some were even flower and star shapes.  I was so excited I stopped a stranger on Broadway and asked him to photograph my glove and email the photo to me – which you can see he did – aren’t New Yorkers the greatest people on earth??? (okay I am biased on that subject).  I was so amazed by these flakes I stopped several people on the street and in Zabar’s to show them. They probably thought I was a nut, but they all praised my flakes and enthusiasm…and then they (the flakes) melted and that was that.

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By 6 when I walked Bella the snow had tapered off to almost nothing I was thinking this is going to end up a dud blizzard  : (  But here it is 1a.m. and I’m giving Bella her last walk of the day and it’s snowing pretty hard : )

Bella Bleu Cheese

Bella Bleu Cheese

The last blizzard we had I sat in my living room reading three Twilight books (it snowed for 3 days and I read one book each day).  It was pure heaven.

In addition to marathon reading, I love to make soup when it’s snowing.  BP (before Paleo) I would make hearty bean soups – split pea or lentil, now I make hearty vegetable soups.  This one is pretty simple and straight forward and delicious.  Everyone who has tasted it has asked for the recipe.  If you have a cabbage in your refrigerator, you probably also have everything else you need to make this soup without having to go to the store.

Here’s hoping I’ll wake up tomorrow to a winter wonderland.  Happy Snow Day!
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Crunchy Red Cabbage Salad

Paleo * Gluten free * Vegetarian * Vegan * Parve

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I love red cabbage salad.  Growing up my mom made what we called Ketchup Salad every time the ketchup bottle was getting low.  She would add vegetable oil and red wine vinegar to the remaining ketchup (Heinz, of course) in the bottle and shake – great way to use every drop of ketchup – then pour it over shredded red cabbage and shredded carrots – add plenty of salt and pepper and a family favorite was created.  Jump forward 40 or 50 years – I’m working in the soup kitchen and we get a case of red cabbage donated.  I know just what to do with it – Ketchup Salad!  My fellow volunteers were horrified but I stood firm and insisted we add ketchup to the vinaigrette.  Guess what – they all loved it too (except Lenny who wouldn’t taste it) and every now and then one of them announces s/he had made Ketchup Salad at home that week.  So though I don’t have exact proportions of oil/vinegar/ketchup to give you, I encourage you to make up your own Ketchup Salad, if you dare!

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Gluten-free Dairy-free Vegan Empanadas (not Paleo)

Wheat free * Dairy free * Gluten free * Vegetarian * Vegan * Parve

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The beauty of empanadas, as with all turnovers, is that they are great on-the-go meals.  You can easily reheat them in a microwave and they are not sloppy to eat.  No only are they good for lunch, but they are actually nice change of pace breakfast foods.  If you like sweet empanadas, you can use fruit pie filling instead of the fillings here – and if you want them more dessert-y, you can brush the dough with egg (but of course then they would not be vegan) and sprinkle sugar on top before baking.

Monday’s empanadas were a little “doughy” for me.  So I made these empanadas bigger, thereby allowing for a greater filling to dough ratio.  I would probably make the chicken ones this size too.  But for appetizers, the smaller ones would work better. (more…)

Dairy-free Colcannon

Paleo * Gluten free * Vegetarian * Vegan * Parve

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day

I know it’s not a Tuesday, but I couldn’t resist a recipe appropriate to a holiday (like last week’s Hamantashen).  There was a custom to stir charms (not the candy) into colcannon and they would foretell an event to come – a ring might mean you will get married; a coin would mean you will be getting money, etc.  Not being much of a romantic, I think this just sounds like a choking hazard so I don’t recommend it as a St. Patrick’s day tradition – especially if you are having plenty of beer with your meal.  An authentic recipe for colcannon will generally include generous amounts of butter and milk, but this one is delicious without either. So here’s a yummy Irish recipe that is great to serve with corned beef.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day – Enjoy! (more…)