Yum, Yum, Yum… Cabbage and Beer.

I have been trying to break out of my steady diet of microwaved veggie burgers and sugar snap peas in a bag by trying to cook a new, never before tried (by me) recipe. Tonight I wanted to try the Braised Cabbage and Seitan from Appetite for Reduction, but ended up going way off course on account of I didn’t actually have any of the ingredients it called for (except cabbage). But it was DELICIOUS anyway.

Here’s what I did:

1.) Recipe called for seitan. I used tempeh instead – one package, sliced. I don’t know what size slices. (What size do you like? Try that size!)

2.) I sauteed the tempeh with a small onion (also sliced) in a generous spray of cooking spray and a stingy splash of oil until the tempeh was a little brown and crispy and the onion (not in original recipe) was soft and starting to brown.

3.) The recipe called for chopped garlic, but all I had was a jar of crushed garlic from Trader Joe’s, so I added I heaping tablespoon of that. I like garlic, and was not planning on kissing anyone who was not also eating this dish. I also, per original recipe, threw in some red pepper flakes. Not per original recipe, I didn’t measure, so do this to taste, I guess. The recipe also called for some thyme, which falls in to the category of Spices I Don’t Have, so I threw in a couple dashes of Spike, which we keep on hand for Bloody Mary’s. And some lemon pepper.

4.) The recipe calls for one to deglaze the pan with 1/2 a cup of vegetable broth, but I did it with a quick pour from a can of beer. The rest you can save for drinking. (I used Half Acre Daisy Cutter because that’s what I wanted left over for drinking.) Then, per recipe, I added 2 cups of veggie broth and a bag of shredded cabbage. Ok–the original recipe suggests you just buy a whole cabbage and chop it, which would be cheaper and also more time consuming, so… if you prefer, do that. Aim for four cups.

5.) Cook for about 15 minutes until the cabbage is soft but not soggy.

6.) TRY NOT TO EAT THE WHOLE THING WHILE STANDING OVER THE POT ON THE STOVE. It is SO good. Serve over rice or by itself.

If you’re on Weight Watchers, this is three points per serving, assuming 4 servings.

My partner just came home, a liiiiitle tipsy from a work event, and kept shouting to me from the kitchen: this is SO GOOD. And then she came into the room and said: 5 years ago, if you would have told me that I would come home drunk and go eat a big bowl of tempeh, I would have told you to F**k Off. See – even non-vegetarians can drink the Kool-Aid!

In Summary You’ll Need: 1 package of tempeh, 1 small onion, crushed garlic, beer, oil, cooking spray, red pepper flakes, 2 cups of veggie broth, 4 cups of shredded cabbage, and some spices/seasoning you like. And fifteen minutes. And willpower.