Cabbage Supper with Cream Cheese Mashers

Let me just say that this is one of those dishes that makes me feel like I'm some sort of genius. It's fairly traditional, so it's not that I'm inventive. It just tastes so darn good. The first time I made this was during the winter when cabbage was a regular arrival in my farm box. This dish is particularly good with Napa Cabbage. My coworker and I raced to one of the downtown farmers markets last Tuesday on our lunch hour. I picked up lots of yummy fruit, small red potatoes and this lovely cabbage. As soon as I saw that big leafy cabbage, I knew its destiny!

Alas, there weren't any leeks at the farmers market, and I really like leeks for this dish, so I got these at the supermarket. This picture shows the part of the leek to use. Compost or make broth out of the hard green parts. Split and slice the tender parts 1/4 inch thick, then place them in a colander to wash out any grit or sand that may hide in between the leaves.

I used two gala apples. We've been getting very good organic gala apples from our family-owned neighborhood grocery store.

Here's the star of the show! I used 3/4 of this cabbage for the recipe. This came out to about 8 cups sliced. I removed the dark green outer leaves and the hard core.

Here's our finished Saturday evening supper. Yum! The potatoes are made with small red potatoes and reduced fat cream cheese. The cream cheese works really well with the creaminess of the red potatoes, and it also adds a rich tang. There's quite a lot of butter in the cabbage, but the ham is very lean, so the butter is the only source of fat in the dish. Even with the cream cheese and butter, my dinner (as shown) came out to 478 calories.

Cream Cheese Mashers

(I'm giving you this recipe first because the potatoes take much longer to cook than the cabbage, so you'll want to start them first.)

6 cups prepared small red potatoes (wash and cut into quarters)

1/2 cup reduced fat cream cheese

1 tbsp. butter

1/4 cup non-fat milk

1 tsp. salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Simmer potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain well and mash with the cream cheese, butter, milk, 1 tsp. salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm while you finish the cabbage.

Makes 6 cups

187 calories per serving

Cabbage Supper

3 medium leeks, equivalent to 2 cups when cleaned and sliced

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1/4 cup butter

1/2 tsp. salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

8 oz. of lean ham, cubed

8 cups sliced cabbage

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

In a large sauce pan or dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat and add the leeks, apples and ham and allow them all to cook down a bit while you slice the cabbage. Add the cabbage, salt, pepper, sugar and vinegar. Allow it all to cook down over medium heat until the cabbage in tender - about 10 minutes.

Serves 4

291 calories per serving