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11/4/10

Save the vegetables: Lazy stuffed cabbage

Do you ever buy vegetables with the best intentions of cooking and then end up having them sit in the refrigerator wilting for a few weeks? This happens to me all the time! I'm then left with two choices: throw the vegetables into the trash can or try to save it. Last weekend I decided to save the vegetables!! (It sounds like a political slogan.)
I also had some ground beef leftover from recipe testing and decided to make a lazy version of stuffed cabbage.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil
1/4 red onion, diced
4 garlic clove, sliced
1/2 pound ground beef
2 sprigs of fresh oregano
salt & pepper
4 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
10 mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 stalks of celery, peeled, thinly sliced {yes, I peel my celery. I learned it from my twin, and it's great!}
1 small Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
Garnish: toasted sesame seeds, soy sauce


Directions

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and garlic and saute for 3 minutes.Add ground beef and oregano sprigs. Season with salt & pepper and cook till the beef has browned. Remove the beef mixture from the pan and toss out oregano.

2. Add a bit of oil to the pan. Once it's heated, add carrots and saute for 3 minutes.

3. Add mushrooms and celery and saute an additional 2 minutes.

4. Add Napa cabbage and ground beef and cook just long enough for the cabbage to wilt.


Serve this dish hot sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and a splash of soy sauce. You can eat it as is or on top of rice, noodles or even mashed potatoes.


There are also a million variations to this dish depending on what you have: zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, ground chicken or even tofu. I'm so glad I did not let these vegetables go to waste!


Please share your tales of saving your vegetables (or fruit). And please remember you can still vote for me (once/day) to win a gorgeous purple Le Creuset.

4 comments:

Leslie said...

Ohhh nice. This looks amazing. I am really really bad at buying things and letting them go bad. I am a poor planner when it comes to grocery/menu planning! grrr

Meister said...

This post almost seems like it was made for me -- not only is this a problem I'm constantly having, but I'm constantly having it with practically these very perishable items! Amazing.

Irina said...

Your "lazy stuffed cabbage" looks very appetizing! My favorite way of saving vegetables is making stir-fries similar to the dish in your post, except I make them without meat. Sometimes I add tofu or tempeh for protein, other times it's just veggies, which we usually eat over rice. Another way I use leftover wilting veggies is in vegetable soup.

Roland Denzel said...

This is a perfect meal for me!

I tried something like it with leftover shredded chicken and had it cold like a salad. Delicious.