Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Alone in the Kitchen with a Cabbage by Cleo Coyle (Easy Vegan Recipe)




I give you The Cabbage...



It looks like a big green planet, doesn't it? See the solar warmth on the left and the chilly dark side on the right? As a food it has quite a history. As the subject of a photo, I think it should have its own atmosphere. As the basis for a recipe, it's a smart choice. It's low in fat and calories and high in nutrition. As for what to do with it, there are countless ways to go. 

I found myself alone in the kitchen with this cabbage the other day, and decided to try Extreme Simple Cooking. ESC. Our culture appears to be enamored with shortcut acronyms and our professions chain us to keyboards where the ESC key taunts us from its upper left perch. How do you like it? An ESC recipe. It lets you escape from the kitchen as fast as possible.

And to that end, away we go! May you cook it with ease and eat it with Extreme Joy. That would be EJ, I guess. :)

~ Cleo





Cleo Coyle, cabbage eater,
is author of
The
Coffeehouse Mysteries

Roasted Cabbage, ESC
Extreme Simple Cooking :)

As I mentioned above, cabbage is low in fat and calories and has great nutritional benefits: dietary fiber and essential vitamins and minerals for the body. Read more here

This is a delicious way to prepare it. The cabbage wedges are roasted in high heat with olive oil. While the outside edges char, the insides become tender and buttery. It's truly delicious and insanely easy. The first time you make it, I strongly suggest that you use nothing more than just a bit of salt so you can really taste the buttery sweetness of those interior wedge leaves. 

More seasonings can be added to your liking: e.g., dried garlic and onion flakes, rosemary, dill, caraway seeds, cracked black pepper, red pepper flakes, etc. Just be sure to go lightly on the seasonings because the roasted cabbage taste is so delicate.

I think a squeeze of lemon before serving is a very nice finish. If you're not a lemon fan, try a drizzle of olive oil or (if you're not a vegan) a bit of butter and...eat in good health! ~ Cleo



To download a free PDF of this recipe that you can print, save, or share, click here.



INGREDIENTS

Head of cabbage 

Olive oil 
Salt (kosher or sea salt will give you nice flavor)
(Optional) Your favorite seasoning mix (suggestions in directions)



DIRECTIONS 

Step One - The trick to slicing: As you see in my photos, you'll need to slice up the cabbage, but there's a trick to it. You want most of your slices to include the core. The core will help keep the cabbage wedges together in the cooking. I've roasted cabbages in thick slices and also in wedges, and (frankly) I do prefer the wedges. You can experiment with what you like best.




Step Two - Prep with olive oil and very light seasoning: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Generously grease a heavy half-sheet pan with olive oil. Place the slices on the pan. Use a brush to coat the tops with more olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. If you use pepper or any other seasoning (e.g., dried garlic and onion flakes, caraway seeds, rosemary, dill, cracked black pepper, red pepper flakes, etc.), do so lightly. When roasted, the cabbage has a delicate, buttery flavor and too much seasoning can overpower it.

Step Three - Roast in your preheated 400 degree F. oven for 30 to 45 minutes (final time will depend on your oven and pan). FLIP the cabbage slices halfway through cooking. I use two forks to do this. Be careful and try to keep the cabbage slices together. (Yes, they will attempt to fall apart on you, but using two fork and a bit of care, you can keep them together. You can do it! I believe in you!) Roasted cabbage wedges are done when you see the edges char (turn brownish), as in my photos. 




Serve with a lemon wedge 
for a fresh squeeze of
bright flavor 
over the
finished veg and...





Eat with joy!
~ Cleo Coyle

New York Times bestselling author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries



Yes, this is me, Cleo (aka Alice). 
Friend me on facebook here.
Follow me on twitter here
Visit my online coffeehouse here.








The Coffeehouse Mysteries are bestselling
works of amateur sleuth fiction set in a landmark
Greenwich Village coffeehouse, and each of the
12 titles includes the added bonus of recipes. 
To learn more, click here. 


 

The Ghost and
Mrs. McClure


Book #1 of 

The Haunted Bookshop
Mysteries
, which Cleo writes
under the name
Alice Kimberly

To learn more, click here.


11 comments:

  1. Wow! The utter simplicity of it! Genius. I must try this.

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  2. What a smart idea Cleo--and it looks absolutely marvelous! And could be served with anything...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...served with anyting, you bet! I was thinking of that KEY LIME CHICKEN you posted last week!!

      XOXO

      ~ Cleo

      For Lucy's Key Lime Chicken recipe, click here.

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  3. Utterly delightful post! You had me laughing all the way through - and also wondering why our mothers ever bothered to cook this delicate vegetable in the least appealing, most malodorous way possible. This looks wonderful, and I can't wait to make it this way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! Too funny, Laine! I hope you enjoy it. Marc, my husband (and partner in crime-writing) was skeptical about this method of cooking the cabbage, but then I took a forkful of those tender, buttery, roasted interior wedge leaves, stuffed them into his mouth, and demanded he chew! He did. He swallowed, too, then he took the fork from me and happily at the rest of it. :)

      ~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
      Cleo Coyle on Twitter

      Delete
  4. This simple recipe sounds so good! It also reminds me of a video I just saw this morning, about another head of cabbage on a kitchen counter:


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kui_29j1odo

    I hope the link works!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cee Plus - That video is HILARIOUS!! It reminds me of an incident I had with a sweet black lab named Sparky and a butt of roast beef I'd left on the counter (never to be seen again)!

    Thanks for sharing that...(you must be an animal lover, too)...

    XOXO

    ~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

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  6. I have to hand it to you, Cleo. I love roasting things. When we're overloaded with garden veggies in the summer, I throw a mixture of yellow squash and zucchini, onions, garlic, eggplant, whatever we have loads of, onto a baking sheet and roast them. But it has never crossed my mind to roast green cabbage. We eat a lot of cabbage around here, but never roasted. I have to try this!

    ~Krista

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  7. How simple and great. I never would have thought to roast cabbage. Looks great! My husband will love this.

    Hugs,

    Daryl / Avery

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  8. Insanely easy is my favorite thing, Cleo. We're on a veggie bender around here and this will be on the list for tonight!

    Thank you thank you thank you!

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