NOTE: This is a simple, easy and quick dish to assemble, prepare and cook. We avoid unnecessary steps or complicated embellishments. Read through the entire recipe first to get a sense of its flavors, textures, look and how you might want to change it to fit your own taste preferences.
Feel free to improvise—we call that “jazz cooking” and find it exciting and fun. Use organic ingredients whenever possible—they taste better, are certainly best for your health and appearance and all things considered, are even more economical.
This easy to digest dish will last in the fridge for up to 12 days or more and is equally delicious when eaten cold—as a condiment, appetizer, salad addition, etc.—or hot, as part of a vegetarian, vegan or surf and turf entrée. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 medium size green cabbage
½ medium size red (or other) onion
1/3 cup of olive oil
4-5 cloves of garlic
2-4 slices of a large fennel bulb
1 generous handful of dill greens stripped from the fennel bulb’s stalks
4-5 fresh basil leaves—or 1 tablespoon of dry basil
¼ teaspoon thyme
2 large Heirloom tomatoes—or comparable amount of other types of tomatoes
2/3 cup of tomato (pasta) sauce or 1 cup of tomato-based multi-veggies juice
2 medium size zucchini
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pinch or shake of Cayenne pepper—to taste
½ teaspoon ginger powder
½ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
Salt—optional
Easy Step-by-Step Prep & Cooking
1) Wash produce as advised in our Save Water, Health and Time post (find it in green Search box)—after which, place them in a colander to let excess water drip off.
2) Prepare the ingredients before you start cooking, set aside and add them as indicated below. Place each of the following (prepared) produce items into separate bowls or containers: Peel and chop the onion, garlic cloves, cabbage (into about 1-2” squares), slice fennel bulb into 2-4 rings, strip dill greens off fennel stalks, cut off both ends of zucchinis and slice them into thick (1 and a 1/2 inch) wide pieces, cut tomatoes into 1-2” chunks, tear fresh basil leaves (if available) into large strips.
3) In a small cup or dish, mix the dry herbs and spices (basil—if you use dry—thyme, cayenne, ginger powder) and set aside.
4) In another cup, mix the apple cider vinegar and honey—adding a tablespoon of warm water, if necessary, to help the honey dissolve and blend with the appl.cid.vin.
5) Pour olive oil into large (soup) pot, peel and chop onion, add to olive oil and sauté on low heat until onion becomes glassy. (Keep mixing, do not burn onion and turn heat down or take pot off burner for a few seconds if oil bubbles or smokes.)
6) Add chopped garlic and continue sautéing for about 6-8 seconds, mixing all the time.
7) Add chopped tomatoes and keep sautéing for 1-2 minutes, adding the tomato sauce to keep the mix moist. (Add water as needed.)
8) Add cabbage, then fennel, cover pot with well-fitting lid and keep cooking for about 3-4 minutes.
9) Add zucchini, fresh basil leaves (if used) and dill greens—cook for about a minute then add all the dry ingredients and the Worcestershire sauce, mix well, replace cover and cook until cabbage is the consistency you prefer—best to stop when it’s al dente (slightly crunchy) and before it gets too mushy. Do not let ingredients burn. Add water when needed, but just enough to provide a fair amount of sauce for the dish.
10) Turn the heat off and add the apple cider vinegar and honey combo to the dish and mix well. Let it cook for ½ a minute, remove from burner and keep pot covered until food is ready to be served.