A little while ago I tried out the Hungry Girl recipe "Do the Cabbage Pack." It was... underwhelming. So I revamped it and I really loved my changes to it! Despite my kind lengthy directions, it's SUPER EASY.
I eat this as the main course to a meal (sometimes a whole meal) because it's pretty big. It's also hot, which is nice as the weather gets colder.
I've tried this with about 8-12 oz cabbage. The recipe could probably be okay with more cabbage and the same amount of the other ingredients. I also use Blue Bonnet because I like the taste and don't like butter enough to spend the extra calories. You can switch it out for butter, if you like. Just adjust the count for it.
Ingredients:
12 oz cabbage (~85 cals) (I had a big cabbage, so this was halved)
1 oz onion (10)
1.5 tbsp Blue Bonnet light veggie oil spread (60)
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese (40)
Garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Remove the core from the cabbage with a knife. Slice the cabbage half into 4 thin wedges. Halve each wedge, leaving you with 8 "chunks." Chop the onion into slices. I like mine thinner so the onion's all over in the dish.
Lay a large piece of foil on a baking sheet and spray with nonstick spray. Spread the cabbage out, op with onion. Add Blue Bonnet in 4+ evenly spaced dollops. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, Parmesan.
Place another piece of foil over the cabbage. Fold together and seal all four edges of the two foil pieces into a well-sealed packet.
Bake 30 - 35 minutes, until soft. I also take it out at halfway through, flip it over for a few seconds, flip it back and put it in to bake the rest of the time. This kind of spreads stuff around better.
Let it cool a bit. Cut the packet or unroll an edge with your oven mitt to release some of the steam. Serve and enjoy! I usually put the whole thing, foil and all, on a large plate and eat it out of the foil. That lets me scrape up the oniony, Parmesany juices.
The whole thing has 195 calories total. It's definitely delicious! I finished the whole thing and wanted more! But I was too full...
1-2 onions, chopped & sauteed in a large pot
1 cabbage, chopped
any bits of veggies on hand, chopped small
tin of diced tomatoes
boullion cube or powder--whatever flavour you prefer
Chinese chili garlic sauce, to your preferred taste
To the sauteed onions, add the cabbage, tomatoes and any other bits of veggies & barely cover with water into which you have stirred in the boullion. Cook till all vegetables are soft.
Play around with the flavour till you get it how you like it. You can eat it as is or put it through a food processor, depending how small you cut up the cabbage. I process mine with a hand-held electric food processor.
This soup has very few calories and is one of my go-to snacks hot or cold when I get the munchies.
Cabbage is a great "diet" food. Whatever you might add to it in the way of a bit of sodium and fat for flavour, it is still a great "diet" bargain.
I make my own kim chi with napa cabbage. Primarily because I can't get good kim chi in the stores here. Fermenting at home isn't for everyone though. That said, if you like kim chi, kim chi fried rice is awesome! Making it at home is great because you can control the amount of fat in it and I always make it with brown rice.
I love making coleslaw, I use it in stir fries, and soups.
Esofia~Thanks for mentioning congee. I forget about it. I'm going to have to make that soon. I love congee.
I make meat balls with cooked rice in them - lean beef, a bit of rice, parsley, Lawrey's garlic salt, black pepper, cinnamon, minced onion. I cook them in a can of crushed tomatoes with a can of water added. Slice cabbage and add that on top and bring to a boil then simmer about an hour. "unstuffed" cabbage and its really delicious. I do the same thing but exchange sliced green and red peppers for the cabbage.
I add cabbage to a lot of things to bulk it up without adding calories. I love cabbage. Things I add it to have been: meatbalsl, stirfry, pasta sauce, salad, roasted veggie sides.. the list goes on. I buy a head a week and it's always gone, lol.
What are your favorite cabbage recipes?
