Today I am here with another simple, hearty and healthy recipe. Cabbage Stew with Ground Meat, prepared the quick and easy way.
It is end of January while I am writing this and it is the perfect time to cook cabbage to fill up the whole family. I am one of the lucky ones, as all family members are good with most of the vegetables. I like to prepare this cabbage stew with only cabbage, as even with a small cabbage it turns out to feed 8 people easily. If I were to add other vegetables would mean frozeing half of it or using only half of the cabbage.
What are the benefits of eating cabbage stew?
Cabbage is a hidden gem. It contains many nutrients, powerful antioxidants and vitamins such as K which helps blood clothing and vitamin C. Besides it is low in calories and helps digestion.
Who should not eat cabbage?
However if you have hypothyroidism such as Hashimoto you should not be eating it too often. Likewise avoid eating cabbage if you are recovering from a surgery. You can read about more details about when not to eat cabbage at webdm.com.
How to cut the cabbage?
For this recipe, assuming you are using a small cabbage, first cut the cabbage into half. Make sure you are using a cutting board, although cabbage looks like an iceberg lettuce it is much more difficult to cut it as it is generally very stiff. Then cut each half into halves again making 4 pieces. Then cut off the hard parts in the centers which is very bitter and not edible. Then cut each quarter to slices.
You can choose to add other vegetables such as carrots, celery, frozen peas or corn to this stew, but below picture shows what I have added. Bay leaves for the smell, rice for thickening the stock, ground meat and butter for flavor, tomato paste and hot pepper paste as cabbage stew cannot be with some spice.
I used a pressure cooker to speed up the cooking process. down to 20 minutes. Otherwise use more water and cook longer. I do not like my food to be overcooked and cabbage is something that can be eaten even raw, so it is upto you to decide how long you want to cook your stew.
If you are vegan you can leave out the ground meat and the butter and prepare this recipe or you might want to check my Vegan Kapuska recipe. Serve it with Kuskus Pasta.
Cabbage Stew Recipe with Ground Meat
Ingredients
- 1 small white cabbage
- 150 grams ground meat
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon chilli paste or chilli pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg grated
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flaks to taste
- 1 onion
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon rice
Instructions
- Rinse the cabbage, cut off worn parts if any. Cut into half and then half again. Cut off the hard part in the center and discard. Then cut to thin slices.
- Melt the butter, together with olive oil in a pressure cooker or a large pot.
- Add chopped onion and sauté until almost caramelized.
- Add chopped garlic and saute for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add the salt and the ground meat and mix until crumbly.
- Sprinkle the rice, no need to rinse and its starch is needed to thicken the water.
- Add the chopped cabbage.
- Mix the hot pepper sauce and the tomato paste with 400 millilitres of warm water and pour on top of the cabbage.
- Also add all the remaining spices, grated nutmeg, red pepper flakes and bay leaves.
- Cover the lid. Once the water comes to boil and the cabbage softens mix to blend. Cover the lid again and let simmer (or cook if using a pressure cooker) until the rice is done.