Braised Cabbage

I finally figured out a way to use some of the two heads of cabbage in the fridge. Unfortunately, this only used 1/2 of one, but luckily it was delicious and gave me incentive to find ways to cook more. Braising is typically a cooking method saved for cooler months when the weather is dreary and people want hot, slow cooked food. However, I don't exactly cook weather appropriately (e.g. the many soups I've made in the past few weeks) and I'm really looking forward to autumn, so braising was perfectly appropriate for me.


Braised cabbage with cauliflower rice
Ingredients
- 1/2 head savoy cabbage, cut into 4 wedges
- 1 cup vegetable stock or water
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar + more for drizzling
- Dried thyme, to taste
- 2 bay leaves
- Cracked pepper (and salt if using salt free stock or water)

- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 1 tbsp Vegan parmesan cheese
- S&P, to taste

Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Wash and core the cabbage and divide into four wedges. Set aside.
- In an 8x8 or 9x13 casserole dish, add stock, thyme and bay leaves. Set cabbage wedges on top, drizzle with red wine vinegar and cracked pepper. Cover tightly in foil and bake for an hour, turning halfway through.

- While the cabbage braises, prepare the "rice":
- Cut florets in small pieces and add to a food processor along with seasoning and "cheese". Pulse until it has the consistency of white rice.
- Just before cabbage is done, heat "rice" in a sauce pan on medium heat until warm. Plate and serve cabbage over top with a drizzle of vinegar.




This was lovely and would probably be even better on a cool November evening, snuggled up in a blanket and a glass of merlot. However, it worked well for a ridiculously hot August afternoon while guzzling a big glass of water after a sweaty power walk. The cabbage was completely infused with the broth and practically fell apart at the touch of a fork.

The cauliflower rice wasn't used for any low-carb reasons; I needed to use some up before it went bad and it doesn't hurt that cauliflower rice is tasty. If you'd prefer real rice, then by all means use that instead. Lord knows I love my carbs.