The dish we had tonight hearkens back to my childhood. I think (in retrospect ~ I didn't think about this until I tasted it) that it was inspired by my mom's "Poverty Stew." Poverty Stew is basically made by browning ground beef with onions, pouring water over that and adding egg noodles. Season with salt and pepper, and that's it. I used to pretty much drown mine in Worcestershire sauce. YUM. Really.
Tonight, I found myself facing the daily dinner dilemma once again. After a rousing day of birthday party shopping and furniture moving (yes, I moved the furniture again. Sue me), I got home at 6:00 p.m. and started to hunt around the kitchen. * insert voice-over: "Join me, as I go In Search of...the elusive...dinner."*
It is imperative that I clean out fridge and free up as much space as possible to stash food for Kaia's birthday party. On Saturday morning, it will need to house a birthday cake. I happened to have stocked up on Morningstar Farms frozen goods recently, when I found that I had a large number of dollar-off coupons and they were on sale at Target for $2.99 apiece. That meant I could get them for $1.99/package, instead of the usual three-and-a-half to four dollars. So now I have a freezer full of meat analogs, which aren't the sort of thing upon which I rely every day, but, you know, a sale is a sale, right? There was also a head of cabbage taking up a lot of prime shelf space, and I always have pasta, so...Here's what we ate. It has no title. I defer to the aunt of one of my dear friends who, upon being asked what a particular dish she had prepared was named, replied, after a rather puzzled pause, "We don't name our food ~ we eat it." Makes perfect sense. I give you: the dinner that shall remain nameless.
1 TBS olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 package frozen veggie burger crumbles
1 small head green cabbage, chopped
1/2 c. water
salt and pepper to taste
cooked pasta (I used rotini)
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook it 'til it's dead. (I HATE onions, but... sometimes a recipe really needs one, so, if possible, I cook it until it is unrecognizable. In this case, I diced the offending vegetable as tiny as possible, and cooked on low until it almost dissolved. I did not want it to brown, but you can brown yours if you prefer.)
Add veggie burger crumbles and garlic and cook until burger is browned and hot through. Spread the cabbage over burger mixture, sprinkle with salt and pepper, pour water over all, cover with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes, until cabbage is wilty. Remove lid and stir thoroughly. Cover and continue cooking until cabbage is done. This is a matter of opinion. Some like it crisp, some (like myself) prefer it thoroughly cooked. Just keep checking, stirring occasionally. When done to taste, toss with pasta and serve.
It's really good with (vegetarian) Worcestershire sauce, or, if you are one of those there cheese-eaters, you can stir in some cheddar cheese (and/or a dollop of sour cream). And then you can grin ~ you know how :)
Okay, so...that was dinner. What did you eat tonight? I could really use some inspiration.
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