More Apples

I've been eating a ton of apples lately, so maybe that's why I have apples on the brain and have therefore been using them a lot in my cooking. I swear that not all of my creations have apples in them.

This particular side dish I've been making for a while. The inspiration came from my best friend Maria, who one day told me she made something very similar. I can't remember her original version, but but I know it was the inspiration to this one. It's a great side dish for pork, chicken or even on it's own, adding some beans (probably garbanzo beans would be best because of their texture). And the best part is it's so easy!

Cabbage with Apples and Onions

3 cups cabbage, shredded

1 1/2 cups onions, sliced

2 large or 3 small apples, thinly sliced

3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil

salt to taste

1. Place large frying pan on medium heat. Add oil.

2. Shred lettuce (cut thinly with knife until you get ribbon-like strands of cabbage. Slice onions. When oil is hot, add cabbage and onions to the pan. Add salt to draw out moisture from vegetables. Stir vegetables occasionally.

cabbage and onions

3. Slice apples, keeping skins on. Add to pan and stir. Cover for approximately 5 minutes. Add vinegar and coat vegetables and apples throughout. Cover and let cook 1-2 minutes until apples are tender but not falling apart and the vinegar creates a bit of a syrup.



Adding apples



Voila! It's done!

Serves 4. Enjoy!

Notes: If you don't want to shred the lettuce by hand, the bagged cole slaw mix works just as well. The carrots in the mix just adds a little more sweetness to the dish.

Grand debut

I had been planning this blog for a while, but computer issues delayed it's grand debut. I had also been thinking for a while which recipe was special enough for this first of many blogs. Well, I'll start with one that I think is fairly easy and can satisfy all (yes, it's vegan friendly!).

Butternut Squash, Apple and Onion Soup

40 oz butternut squash chunks (I used pre-cut squash to save time)
2 large apples, sliced or diced and unpeeled, such as cortlands
2 medium onions, sliced
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
salt, cinnamon (about 2 tsp) and nutmeg to taste (about 1 tsp)
water



Raw butternut squash, apples and onions



Place butternut squash, apples and onions into large stock pot. Add enough cold water to cover squash, apples and onions. Bring to boil and then simmer until squash is very tender, probably about an hour. Take off heat and use hand blender or regular blender until the consistency is smooth. Add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vinegar and stir well.

Cooked ingredient before they are blended together

The finished product!!! Yummm!!!

(This also works really well in a slow cooker. This makes several batches and can easily be frozen in batches. This is more of a sweet kind of soup, but can be made more savory and spicy by adding red pepper flakes or any hot pepper of your choosing.)

Try it and let me know what you think.