I actually planned this before I saw that my blood sugar is creeping back up. I dropped a jar of pasta sauce off the top shelf. It didn't break, but the lid was severely dented and I decided to open and use it right away. I already had pasta this month, and thought cabbage sliced just the right way and stewed kind of has the same texture. It couldn't hurt as an experiment, and I could always cook up some pasta if it didn't work.
Aside from I should have gotten a bigger cabbage, this worked. I could have cooked it longer. Some of the pieces were still quite crunchy. The good news in that is you don't have to worry about overcooking it. There just isn't enough liquid for it to become completely limp.
While I used marinara, the cabbage is really a blank slate. Pair it with any protein, extra vegetables, and sauce. Pork chops and pineapple BBQ sauce would make it Hawaiian. I would gladly make it a base for a curry instead of rice. Peanut butter sauce, pesto, sofrito, mole...the list goes on. Might not try a dairy or cheese sauce, though. That seems awkward. I'm listing the recipe as what I made, so it matches the photos.
*1-1/2 to 2 lbs bone-in chicken pieces (four servings)
1 small or 1/2 large cabbage, about 1-1/2 lbs
1 Tb olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 12 oz bag frozen peas
*1 C frozen or canned corn
*2 C marinara sauce
1. Preheat oven to 350º. Arrange chicken in a roasting pan. Bake until thickest piece reaches 165º, about 40 minutes.
2. Once the chicken has been in the oven for about 15 minutes, start the cabbage. Remove the outer one or two leaves and rinse well. Quarter, remove the hard core, and slice into 1/2" thick strips.
3. Drizzle oil into a large pan or soup pot and heat over medium. Sprinkle in the cabbage as you separate the strips. It's going to be a lot fluffier than it looks on the cutting board. Sprinkle with the salt and stir to coat all the pieces with oil. Cover and cook until it wilts down, stirring every 5 minutes.
4. Once cabbage has reduced, add in frozen veggies. If the cabbage did not give off water, add a few tablespoons to keep everything from scorching. In a side pan, warm the sauce.
5. To plate, pile the vegetables on a serving platter. Top with sauce and chicken and serve.
Difficulty rating π
