Submitted by: Mary P.
I don’t know if you saw the cabbage and mushroom recipe that was floating around last week. I made it and we loved it. I added collards and spinach to the cabbage to give a really green boost. Here is the original recipe followed by my modifications. I really liked the sauce that is added to the veggies and plan to use it often varying the flavors depending on the cuisine I am cooking.
6 Servings
1 small green cabbage, cored and diced, about 6 cups
1 cup vegetable stock
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 pound mushrooms (shiitake or oyster, if possible)
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed into 1/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon fresh dill weed, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste (optional)
Instructions:
In a covered pot over high heat, steam the cabbage in the stock for 5 minutes until it is just wilted and still bright green. Remove from heat and remove cover.
While the cabbage cooks, heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok, and sauté the onion and mushrooms until they brown. Add the cabbage and heat through, mixing well. Stir the cornstarch mixture well and add it to skillet. Bring mixture to boil, stirring, until liquid thickens. Reduce heat and season to taste with dill, paprika, salt, and pepper.
My variation:
I started three pans. One had the water, some mushroom powder and shitaki mushrooms. I boiled this until the mushrooms were tender and then added the cabbage. In the other pan, I browned onions. This can be done very carefully with no oil. You have to watch the onions to make sure they don’t burn. Put onions and just enough water to cover into a skillet (better it is not non-stick). Put it on pretty high heat. As soon as the onions start sticking to the bottom of the pan and browning, add some more water and wait for it to evaporate and start browning. It takes about 15 minutes, but you get a nice browned flavor in the process. Once the onions were brown, I added the button mushrooms and steamed them until done. In the third pan, I cooked some collard greens until tender. Once the cabbage was done (about 5 minutes), I added about 1/2 pound of baby spinach and tossed it with the cabbage to wilt it and then turned the heat off.
When the mushrooms are done, thicken the water and add the dill. I added the cooking water from the cabbage and the collards, too. It makes a nice gravy that you then toss with the cabbage and collards. It was great. My hubby liked it too. It had a nice intense mushroom and brown taste to it.