Recipe: Cabbage with Caraway and Horseradish Cheddar

I've already posted about the two main parts of my re-vamped Sunday dinner, the one that started out as one thing (I forget what ) and turned out to be mashed potatoes and chicken and olives with a wine-sauce gravy.  Those were wonderful and they were exactly what I needed at that point, don't get me wrong.  I was thrilled with them.  They were lacking something though, and that something was vegetable matter.  Some people (read: my husband) might make the argument that the potatoes count as a vegetable since they grew in the ground.  He would also make the argument that the chicken counts as a vegetable since it is not a cow or a sheep.  I'm not buying it.  Furthermore, I'd purchased a cabbage for the originally-planned dish and I wanted it out of my refrigerator.  

I thought about the cabbage for a little while.  What was I going to do with it?  I remembered the first dish I'd made in which I realized that a non-Asian cabbage could actually be edible.  It was this dish - a casserole that involved both cabbage and potato.  It was comforting and it was tasty.  What it did was incorporate cabbage and cheese.  I'd enjoyed it then and I felt that I could probably enjoy it now.  Well, not now now.  Now I already had potatoes in the process of boiing, didn't have time to hand make noodles and didn't need an additional starch dish no matter how bad my mood was.  Cabbage and cheese, on the other hand, was just fine.  

I have just found a similar dish that I made a couple of years ago, but there are a couple of differences so I'll post this anyway.  The biggest difference is the cheese.  I used more of it for one thing, and the cheddar melts better than pecorino for another.  (That the horseradish gives more bite is another matter entirely.)  The funny thing is that the cheese melted so well into the cabbage that it was completely indistinguishable from the rest of the dish on a casual glance.  My daughter informed me that she was only willing to eat the cheese.  We explained that the cheese was hiding among the cabbage and she ultimately ate every last bit.  

Cabbage with Caraway and Horseradish Cheddar (serves 4; approx. $1.21/serving)

1 Savoy cabbage, shredded

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 tablespoon caraway seeds

1/2 cup water

3 - 4 ounces horseradish cheddar, shredded

Equipment:

• Large wok

1. Heat the oil in the wok.
2. Add the onion and fry until golden brown.  
3. Add the cabbage and cook until cooked down.  Add about half a cup of water if burning is a threat.  
4. Add the caraway seeds about two minutes before the end of cooking -  they can be overpowering.
5. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the cheese.
6. Serve hot.  

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