Cabbage Anyone?

I volunteer once or twice a month with a great organization in the metro area called DC Central Kitchen. Their mission is to use food as a way to strengthen bodies, empower minds, and build communities, and their programs work towards this goal in a way that is sustainable and spurs lasting change. (If you're ever looking for an interesting read on the role of non-profits in our country, check out Begging for Change by DCK's founder, Robert Egger).

One aspect of DCK's work is community nutrition outreach, and I helped out last weekend at a Mobile Market organized by Capital Area Food Bank, another great DC non-profit. The event is set up like a farmer's market and provides fresh produce to attendees in high need areas at no charge. We held a cooking demo demonstrating healthy recipes that can be made using ingredients available at the market that day.

There is pretty strict criteria for the recipes we demo - no animal products, no expensive ingredients, and less than 20 minutes total prep time - so it always amazes me that the DCK team comes up with such delicious recipes. We made a curry cabbage stew this week.

After two weeks of kimchi in Korea, I would have been happy if I didn't see cabbage for a good year, but this different take on the vegetable was good enough to break my cabbage abstinence. Enjoy!

Curry Cabbage Stew (Original recipe found here): 4 servings

Ingredients
4 cup shredded cabbage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 jalepeno pepper (optional)
1 medium tomato, sliced (can substitute with 1 can diced tomato, or combination)

Directions
1. Shred cabbage and rinse
2. Heat oil in sauté pan over medium heat. Add olive oil, onion, garlic and jalepeno if using
3. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until onion begins to brown
4. Add cabbage and curry powder. Stir to mix and reduce heat. Cook for 15 minutes until cabbage is tender and begins to wilt
5. Add tomatoes and sauté 2-3 minutes before serving