Grilled Cabbage & Potato Packets

Cabbage seems like a fall vegetable to me. It should be paired with corned beef or boiled with potatoes. It should be blanched, stuffed with rice and ground beef, covered with tomato sauce and steamed in the pressure cooker. That’s fall cooking in my book.

So why—in the middle of the hottest summer in 70 years—am I getting a cabbage at every CSA pick-up? What am I going to do with all that cabbage?

I can tell you what I’m not going to do. I’m not going to boil it or blanch it or steam it. My kitchen—and my hair—won’t tolerate all that heat and moisture. Nope.

You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to grill it.

The first cabbage grilling attempt: cut into quarters, brushed with oil,  sprinkled with salt and pepper and seared on a hot grill. Then roasted with the grill turned down to medium/medium low, lid closed, until tender. It worked well but was bland.

It needed to be jazzed up a bit. Enter the onions and new potatoes and grated pecorino romano cheese. Oh yeah. That’s what it needed.

So, go ahead, CSA. Give me more cabbage. We had this twice in one weekend and we’re ready for more.

Grilled Cabbage & Potato Packets

What you’ll need to make one packet, which is enough for 2 or 3 people as a side dish:

1/2 head of cabbage, thinly sliced

1 small red or yellow onion, thinly sliced

5 or 6 small red potatoes, sliced about 1/8 inch thick

olive oil, about 1 or 2 tablespoons total

salt and pepper

grated cheese, 1 or 2 tablespoons per layer (about 1/4 cup total)

Heat your grill.

Cut off a piece of aluminum foil—about 14-16 inches. If your foil is very thin double it. Line the foil with a piece of parchment of the same size.

You’re going to create a mound in the middle of the parchment by layering the ingredients. This should be maybe 5-6 inches wide by about 8-9 inches long.

Layer in this order (see the pictures above): cabbage, onions, potatoes. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and grated cheese. Repeat one or two more times. End with a layer of cabbage.

Wrap the parchment tightly. Wrap the aluminum foil around the parchment packet closing the top and ends tightly.

Reduce the heat of the grill to medium (use your best judgment since some grills are hotter than others). Place the packet on the grill and cook about 30 minutes turning once. You can test the potatoes by carefully (really carefully! ‘cos it’s going to be hot and steamy in there) by removing the packet from the grill and gently opening it to take a peek and test with a fork. Return to the grill if the potatoes are not soft.

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Kale Chip Combos

Everyone’s making Kale Chips. Kids and adults alike are digging into these simple, tasty, and good-for-you snacks. That’s fortunate for kale since it’s a green that’s a little tough (pun intended) to love. And this is coming from a woman who loves her greens.

Some of you may disagree with my assessment of kale. That’s only fair and I accept it. In fact I want to know more about why you love kale and what you do with it because given a choice I’ll pick chard, spinach, or escarole instead. Maybe you can change my mind.

Having said that I’m impressed with kale’s nutritional value and would like to eat more of it. It’s high in vitamins K & C and rich in calcium. And, it’s an impressive anti-inflammatory leading to the boast it helps fight rheumatoid arthritis. Kale has been said to possess anti-cancer properties and to be a powerful antioxidant. So, despite its “tough” guy appearance it’s clearly worth it to add kale to your diet.

We had Kale Chips for the first time this week and liked them. Alone they’re crispy treats. With goat cheese on rice crackers or blended with pecorino romano (made from sheep’s milk) and baked into crisps they’re divine. Again—simple, tasty, and good-for-you.

Please, please, please, don’t forget to tell me how you best like to use kale. If you have a recipe please feel free to leave a link!

Kale Chips

Kale, about 1/4 pound

Olive Oil

Salt

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Wash and thoroughly dry the kale. Break it into pieces about half the size of the palm of your hand. Take care to remove the fibrous stems.

Spread the kale pieces on the cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes or until crisp.

Remove, cool and eat as is or use in one of the recipes below. I was able to store mine in an airtight container for about a week.

Notes:

There seem to be quite a few recipes for dehydrated kale chips on the internet so if you prefer to make them that way take a look around. Here’s one that seemed pretty simple from “We Like It Raw”.

I have it on good authority you can also make “chips” from fresh spinach or chard. Haven’t tried it yet but plan to.

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Kale Chips with Goat Cheese Appetizer

Rice crackers

Creamy goat cheese

Kale Chips

Cracked pepper

Place a tiny dollop of goat cheese on the cracker. Gently press a small piece of crispy kale chip onto the cheese. Top with a half teaspoon of goat cheese and sprinkle with freshly cracked pepper.

Serve immediately.

Try other toppings like: fresh herbs, chopped kalamata olives, or minced red onion. Lots of options!

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Kale Cheese Crisps

Kale Chips

Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Place about 1/2 cup of grated cheese into a small bowl. Take 6-8 kale chips and grind between your fingertips to create fine kale chip flakes. Add them to the bowl with the cheese. Mix together.

Spoon the cheese/kale mixture onto the lined cookie sheet. You want little piles (about 1/4 inch high in the middle and 2 1/2 inches across) of the mixture placed about an inch apart.

Bake about 5-8 minutes until the edges turn golden brown and you notice the cheese has begun to melt and slightly bubble. Watch them carefully—they can go from perfect to burned pretty quickly.

Remove from the oven and let them cool thoroughly. Gently peel the crisps from the parchment.

These are best on top of a bowl of your favorite soup. Bet they’re great topped with a dollop of something creamy—maybe hummus. Pecorino Romano is a sharp cheese so these crisps will be a bit strong in flavor.

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