This is a surprising recipe from my friend Kelli who learned to cook this during her year living in Afghanistan. It is deceptively easy and deceptively spicy. Watch out - I bet you didn't realize black pepper could be so hot. This is also amazingly good for you, wonderfully filling and the spices make it deeply satisfying. It must be the perfect dish.
Believe it or not, I've actually made it too spicy for my taste a few times in which case I mix it with sauerkraut (right out of the can or P.O.E. from New York City if I have it) and the vinegar from the sauerkraut dampens the heat and makes a nice mix. I actually love this combination with some spicy deli mustard and a chicken sausage for lunch or dinner. Yum!
I've become partial to the curry variation which I've listed below.
---------------------------------------
Black Pepper Cabbage
1/2-1 head green cabbage roughly chopped
1 onion, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil (or a thin spray with olive oil spray)
1- 1/2 cups water or broth
1/2-1 teaspoon turmeric
2 pinches sea salt/kosher salt
1/8 -1/4 cup freshly ground pepper
1. Spray dutch oven or braising pan with oil and heat pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until beginning to brown.
2. Add cabbage and water or broth and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat and cook until cabbage is soft 20-30 minutes.
3. When cabbage is softened add turmeric, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
Serve warm.
--------------------------------------
>>Shallot-Curry Variation
1/2-1 head green cabbage thinly shredded
4-5 shallots, thinly sliced
1 heaping teaspoon good quality curry (sweet or hot)
1-1/2 cups good quality broth
2 pinches sea salt
1/8-1/4 cup freshly ground pepper
In step one, once the onions have begun to soften and brown add the curry and stir to distribute and cook until fragrant - about 1-2 minutes.
Follow step 2 and 3 the same.
---------------------------
Showing posts with label Vegetables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vegetables. Show all posts
Friday, June 18, 2010
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Dinner Soup
I was out in Seattle visiting my dear friend Kelly when she made this yummy and sustaining soup for dinner. I thought, "Wow this is yummy and it might fly at my dinner table - there is something for everyone!" So yesterday, with pounds of collard greens, tatsoi, bok choy and spinach from the first CSA pick-up of the year I decided to give this soup a try... and it worked! I served it with some good quality bread (in Seattle we had the very best sourdough rosemary, but I couldn't get my hands on that here in Boston so I bought a well made baguette).
Don't feel like you have to follow this recipe exactly - soup is not that precise, after all and you should put in what you have and not worry too much about it. The key here is the brown sugar, cider vinegar and mustard that give it a very distinctive flavor. And by all means use greens - lots of them. My kids didn't actually eat them (of course not), but they did sip the broth and soak it up in their bread and I'm telling myself that the nutrients from the load of veggies I put in there got into their little bodies that way.
Kelly's Dinner Soup
---------------
1 Turkey Kielbasa cut into half moons (or 1/2 a Kielbasa and 1/2 pound cubed thick cut ham)
2 medium onions, chopped (yellow or sweet work fine)
2 medium carrots, diced
1 tablespooon olive oil
1-2 pounds roughly chopped greens (collard greens and kale for long cooking, spinach and tatsoi go in at the last minute)
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup brown sugar (or to taste)
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (or to taste)
2 tablespoons spicy mustard (I used dijon, but a good quality deli mustard or a whole grain mustard would work too)
16 ounces roughly chopped tomatoes (canned are fine)
1 can pinto beans rinsed
1/2 pound cooked elbow macaroni
2 quarts low salt chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1.In a large soup pot or dutch oven, saute onions and carrots until onions are soft (about five minutes). Add in meat and saute for another minute or two. Add in greens and cook until the greens have wilted down to a more manageable size. Add brown sugar, vinegar and mustard and mix.
2. Add tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer gently for at least an hour (if you are using kale and collard greens they will be tastier and easier to digest if they simmer for that long).
3. Right before serving add pinto beans and macaroni.
Serve with bread
Don't feel like you have to follow this recipe exactly - soup is not that precise, after all and you should put in what you have and not worry too much about it. The key here is the brown sugar, cider vinegar and mustard that give it a very distinctive flavor. And by all means use greens - lots of them. My kids didn't actually eat them (of course not), but they did sip the broth and soak it up in their bread and I'm telling myself that the nutrients from the load of veggies I put in there got into their little bodies that way.
Kelly's Dinner Soup
---------------
1 Turkey Kielbasa cut into half moons (or 1/2 a Kielbasa and 1/2 pound cubed thick cut ham)
2 medium onions, chopped (yellow or sweet work fine)
2 medium carrots, diced
1 tablespooon olive oil
1-2 pounds roughly chopped greens (collard greens and kale for long cooking, spinach and tatsoi go in at the last minute)
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup brown sugar (or to taste)
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (or to taste)
2 tablespoons spicy mustard (I used dijon, but a good quality deli mustard or a whole grain mustard would work too)
16 ounces roughly chopped tomatoes (canned are fine)
1 can pinto beans rinsed
1/2 pound cooked elbow macaroni
2 quarts low salt chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1.In a large soup pot or dutch oven, saute onions and carrots until onions are soft (about five minutes). Add in meat and saute for another minute or two. Add in greens and cook until the greens have wilted down to a more manageable size. Add brown sugar, vinegar and mustard and mix.
2. Add tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer gently for at least an hour (if you are using kale and collard greens they will be tastier and easier to digest if they simmer for that long).
3. Right before serving add pinto beans and macaroni.
Serve with bread
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Oven Roasted Turnip Wedges - Rutabaga Fries
I was waiting in the check-out line of my local wholesale produce store when the lady behind me said, "Excuse me. I hope you don't mind me asking, but what are you planning on doing with all those turnips?" She pointed at the pile of six large rutabagas piled high in the front of my shopping cart.
She went on to tell me that she loved turnips and usually boiled and pureed them - sometimes with the addition of carrots. When I was a kid we called the later "Carnip" and had it for Thanksgiving when we were over at our friends' house.
I was, of course, not at all offended by her curiosity, but went on (most likely on and on) about how I cut my turnips into wedges and brush them with a good olive oil, sprinkle them with a pinch of sea salt and then roast them in the oven until they are a lovely carmelized brown... and then I eat them all. I told her that they are addictive when cooked in this way and she said she was going to have to try it out.
Turnips are a vastly under-rated vegetable. If you're not buy it, just try these and be amazed. It is not just my macrobiotic deprived self that loves these either - even my meat and chocolate loving husband finds these roasted turnips to be delicious.
I've tried this technique with Macomber Turnips and White Turnips but although those varieties are great for other uses (pureed soups being a great example) they are not ideal for roasting - too high a water content so they don't carmelize properly. Rutabaga, on the other hand, is dense and drier and comes out nicely browned and slighly sweeter - the crisp, crunchy edges are the best.
Oven Roasted Turnips
---------------------
1-2 large Turnips (Rutabaga or Swedish Turnips)
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel and slice turnips into wedges. I cut each turnip into quarters and then each quarter into thirds. I make it a point to have pointy edges on my turnip wedges because those crisp up and brown much better than thick rectangular edges.
3. Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil into a rimmed baking sheet or glass baking dish or pie plate and spread evenly. You can do this with much less olive oil, but lots of oil ensures even browning. Lay out turnip slices in a single layer and brush top and sides with olive oil. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of sea salt.
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove turnips from oven and turn each wedge over. Turn oven down to 350 and place turnips back into the oven. Bake another 20-30 minutes until both sides are browned and the turnip slice is soft when pierced with a fork. If a few of your wedges are thicker, remove the thinner and fully cooked slices to a plate and let the thicker slices cook on in the oven until they are soft.
5. Eat them right away or you can also save them and reheat them in small batches - about 15 minutes in a toaster oven. I think they are even better the next day, reheated.
She went on to tell me that she loved turnips and usually boiled and pureed them - sometimes with the addition of carrots. When I was a kid we called the later "Carnip" and had it for Thanksgiving when we were over at our friends' house.
I was, of course, not at all offended by her curiosity, but went on (most likely on and on) about how I cut my turnips into wedges and brush them with a good olive oil, sprinkle them with a pinch of sea salt and then roast them in the oven until they are a lovely carmelized brown... and then I eat them all. I told her that they are addictive when cooked in this way and she said she was going to have to try it out.
Turnips are a vastly under-rated vegetable. If you're not buy it, just try these and be amazed. It is not just my macrobiotic deprived self that loves these either - even my meat and chocolate loving husband finds these roasted turnips to be delicious.I've tried this technique with Macomber Turnips and White Turnips but although those varieties are great for other uses (pureed soups being a great example) they are not ideal for roasting - too high a water content so they don't carmelize properly. Rutabaga, on the other hand, is dense and drier and comes out nicely browned and slighly sweeter - the crisp, crunchy edges are the best.
Oven Roasted Turnips
---------------------
1-2 large Turnips (Rutabaga or Swedish Turnips)
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel and slice turnips into wedges. I cut each turnip into quarters and then each quarter into thirds. I make it a point to have pointy edges on my turnip wedges because those crisp up and brown much better than thick rectangular edges.
3. Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil into a rimmed baking sheet or glass baking dish or pie plate and spread evenly. You can do this with much less olive oil, but lots of oil ensures even browning. Lay out turnip slices in a single layer and brush top and sides with olive oil. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of sea salt.
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove turnips from oven and turn each wedge over. Turn oven down to 350 and place turnips back into the oven. Bake another 20-30 minutes until both sides are browned and the turnip slice is soft when pierced with a fork. If a few of your wedges are thicker, remove the thinner and fully cooked slices to a plate and let the thicker slices cook on in the oven until they are soft.
5. Eat them right away or you can also save them and reheat them in small batches - about 15 minutes in a toaster oven. I think they are even better the next day, reheated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)