Dinner 1: Savory Cabbage and Potato Pot

Our first dinner in the Blessed Table Dinner Challenge!

DISCLAIMERS: I cook on a gas stove, and whenever I cook on someone else’s electric I am always completely flummoxed by how long it takes for the burner to respond to my changes on the dial, so I apologize right now if my instructions for managing temperature don’t work with your stove. Think about how you normally cook, how your stovetop normally responds, and modify my instructions as needed!

You are always welcome to chop your veggies into whatever shapes are most pleasing to you—I made suggestions here that seem to fit the flavors and feel of the dish, and that look pretty together. : ) Just remember to keep your chopped veggies roughly the same size, so they cook about the same length of time.

And remember, I am making this up in my head, but I am a visual person and cook best with the ingredients in front of me. So, do what seems logical! If I say half a cabbage and your cabbage is small and you have a lot of the other ingredients, then use the whole cabbage. Keep things proportional—that’s the key. : )

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Anon’s list of Things to Be Used Up: Ground turkey, cabbage, Maui Onions, spinach, carrots and regular pantry staples on hand. Given this combination—esp. the sweet nature of those Maui onions and sautéed cabbage—I immediately thought of Eastern European flavors.


Savory Cabbage and Potato Pot

Ingredients:
--ground turkey (don’t know how to approximate amounts of this—one package? Eye-ball it so you don't end up with proportionally more meat than the amount of veggies)
--One large Maui onion (or 2 small), sliced in thin rounds
--About ½ a medium green cabbage, chopped
--About 3-4 carrots, quartered lengthwise and then cut into 1 inch pieces
--About 2-3 potatoes—red, gold, russet—chopped into pieces 1” or smaller (you want to end up with proportionally a little more potato than carrot, so adjust the # of potatoes you use depending upon how big they are)
--garlic powder, pepper, dried dill weed (if you don’t have dill, go with crushed dried rosemary and thyme)
--a lot of fresh spinach, rinsed and sorted (I dunno, about ½ a bag? Remember, it will reduce drastically, so always add a little more than you think you need) If the leaves are really big, then tear or chop. If baby spinach, just toss in as is.
--OPTIONAL but recommended: sour cream, yogurt, or sharp cheddar cheese (any cheddar will do, but sharp is best)

Cook your ground turkey in a skillet however you like. (That’s as close to instructions as this vegetarian can get!)

(To save washing an extra pot, you can cook the meat and then transfer it to another dish and use the same pot for the next steps. Or if you prefer to be cooking them at the same time, you can use two pots.)

In large pot, sauté onion and cabbage in olive oil for a few minutes until transluscent, adding a tablespoon of water every now and then, as necessary, to keep them from sticking and getting too brown.

Add a little water—about ¾ cup--and add your chopped carrots. Cover the pot and crank up the heat, bringing the contents to a simmer. When simmering, add the potato and stir, adjusting the temperature under the pot to keep the food simmering, but not boiling. Cover and let cook for at least 5 minutes. When potatoes and carrots feel mostly done (fork prick test), add ground turkey and stir well. Sprinkle liberally with garlic powder and pepper and LOTS of dried dill. (Can salt too, if you desire, just go easy. : ) Cook, uncovered now, for about 5-10 minutes, until everything is hot and cooked through.

When it all looks good, toss in your fresh spinach and stir it in. Put on the lid, set to low heat, and let it cook for about 2 minutes more. Uncover, turn off the heat, stir, and sprinkle one last round of dill. (Can’t have too much dill!)

At this point you have options—you can mix in a couple tablespoons of sour cream or yogurt right there in the pot and serve it like that (not too much, now!). You can add some grated sharp cheddar cheese on top. You can deliver it to the table as is, and allow people to add sour cream/yogurt/cheese if they desire. You can even do a little of both your creamy white and your shredded orange! You can serve this over or alongside egg noodles or brown rice, or just have garlic bread on the side. Make a nice green salad and some applesauce sprinkled with cinnamon and you have a beautiful, healthy meal!

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Here you are, Anon! You did not say the color of your cabbage, so I just assumed green. Red won’t be as nice in this dish, if that’s what you have—I usually reserve red cabbage for salads—but you can use it, or leave it out and just use the other ingredients. If you use rosemary instead of dill, might want to add it when you add the water, to let it cook longer. You did not say what kind of spinach you had, so I guessed fresh. If your spinach is frozen, just thaw it out beforehand, and then add it when you add the ground turkey, to let the flavors meld a bit longer. And if your spinach was frozen, add more dill, and go with the grated cheddar on top instead of the sour cream.  And if you didn't have potatoes, no worries!  Just use all that cabbage, and be sure to serve alongside a starch, like rice. 

Please let us know if you actually try this dish!  : )