Saturday, December 12, 2009

Cabbage “Pasta” with Creamy Tomato Sauce


(pictured: cabbage pasta with creamy tomato sauce without the breadcrumb topping)

Today’s lunch was another one of my healthy meals. One of my friends is reading “Eat to Live” after listening to me rave about the nutrition of the plan and she loves the book. For those of you that have read the book she and I are going to start the 6-week intensive plan next week. Since we are both vegan it isn’t going to be much of a stretch for either of us. I am looking forward to coming out of the holidays healthier than I went in.

To prepare for the more stringent 6-week program I starting thinking of what I could cook for the next 6 weeks. I love to use cabbage as pasta in the fall and winter. Normally I would mix it with whole wheat pasta but that is going to be out for a while so I wanted to post this recipe for my friend to give her some ideas for the coming weeks.

My husband is going to being doing the 6-week plan with us, but will be getting extra grains and nuts since his weight is perfect and we don’t want him to loss any. I will be letting you all know how I modify things for my husband in case you want to join us on a the 6-week plan but need to modify the recipes for someone in your home. Here is what I made for lunch today.

Cabbage “Pasta” with Creamy Tomato Sauce
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

½ yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
¼ cup water
2 cups sprouted soymilk (or any unsweetened non dairy milk)
14 ounces canned diced tomato
3 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
8 cups cabbage, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

Optional Topping Ingredients:

4 tablespoons fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

Directions:

Water sauté the onion in the water until soft. Add the unsweetened non dairy milk, canned tomatoes (with their juices) and cornstarch and simmer for a couple of minutes so the sauce will thicken. Now add the cabbage, salt and pepper and cook until the cabbage is the texture you desire. Our cabbage was tender, but still had a little crisp to maximize the nutrition.

If desired you can toast the whole wheat bread crumbs and mix them with nutritional yeast (for a cheesy umami) and use that to top the pasta. I like to use this combination on my pasta so I added it here. I took the picture before I added the crumb topping and we were too hungry to wait for more pictures with the crumbs.

Nutritional Information (includes optional topping):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 391.87
Calories From Fat (16%) - 60.92

Total Fat - 6.56g
Saturated Fat - 0.91g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 900.33mg
Potassium - 1495.03mg
Total Carbohydrates - 68.07g
Fiber - 14.25g
Sugar - 23.36g
Protein - 16.66g

Comments:

I really enjoyed this for lunch today. It is very filling but without a lot of calories. This meal also provides a nice amount of nutrition. Each serving contains approximately 600IU of vitamin A, 150mg of vitamin C, 250mg of calcium, 250mg of folate, 275mcg of vitamin K, 200mg of phosphorus, and 13mcg of selenium. If you want to reduce the sodium in this dish you can use a no salt added canned diced tomato product.

Unrelated note:

I am off to try to get a few things accomplished before I need to start dinner. I will be back later with a recipe or two. Enjoy your day and happy cooking.

10 comments:

  1. I know I've said it before, but you're so talented! I wish I had time to cook... *sigh* I really miss it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Janelle,

    How are you holding up with the new baby?

    Thank you for the compliment. It was very nice of you to say.

    I am looking forward to reading your updates on how things are going at your house.

    Stop by again when you get a minute or two to spare. Hugs to you and the little one.

    Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks great. I am looking forward to 6-weeks of E2L inspired recipes--yay!

    Courtney

    ReplyDelete
  4. Courtney,

    Thanks! I thought you might enjoy the E2L recipes. I like to do the 6 week plan periodically because it seems to refocus me. Sometimes the 10% "less healthy food" gets out of control for me in terms of carbs. I love grains ... too much.

    We are probably going to start on Wednesday after my friend finishes the book.

    Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is a great idea...I think I might try making a pad thai with carrot and cabbage as "noodles."

    Thanks for the idea.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rose,

    I love the sound of your pad thai with carrots and cabbage as the noodles. Please let me how it works out. I would love to see the recipe if you like it.

    Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a fantastic idea! This looks and sounds really tasty and healthy! That book sounds amazing, I've to get one soon!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oraphan,

    I hope you like the cabbage pasta idea. This is something I have done for years.

    Eat to Live is a great book. They probably have it at your local library if you wanted to check it out before you buy it. The style of eating the doctor describes is all about nutrition and eating to maximize health. It focuses on fresh produce, beans, nuts and seeds.

    Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is a great comfort-food item, Alicia. I could see a nice variation with mushrooms instead of the tomatoes, too . . .

    ReplyDelete
  10. Cindy,

    Funny you would mention mushrooms. I posted a recipe with cabbage and mushrooms about a week before this one.

    Great minds think a like!
    Alicia

    ReplyDelete

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