Lemon Roasted Cabbage

This hilariously easy and laughably cheap recipe makes for an unusual--and surprisingly filling--side dish.

Listen, cabbage is practically a miracle food. It offers all sorts of advantages: it's got a ton of fiber, it makes you feel incredibly full, and yet it contains hardly any calories. It's a perfect example of a food that hacks the satiety factor, and thus it can be a highly useful tool to help you lose weight.

And did I mention that it's cheap and easy? This recipe costs barely 75c per serving, takes hardly any time to make, it's incredibly healthy--and it doesn't even dirty up that many dishes. In short, it has all the advantages that we look for in a Casual Kitchen recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

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Lemon Roasted Cabbage
(Inspired by Kalyn's Kitchen)

Ingredients:
1 medium cabbage
3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
3-4 Tablespoons lemon juice
Kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 450F (225C).

2) Cut cabbage into eight equal sized wedges, removing the core from each wedge (see below).

3) Place wedges on a large baking sheet or cookie sheet. Combine olive oil and lemon juice, and generously drizzle onto each wedge using a spoon or pastry brush. Then, season each wedge with a few shakes of kosher salt and black pepper. Flip each wedge and repeat.


4) Roast in oven for 15 minutes. Then, using a spatula or tongs, flip over each wedge and roast for another 12-20 minutes (also, see below), until each wedge is browned slightly and tender to your liking.

Serves 6 as a side dish.
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Recipe notes:
1) A minor tip on managing these cabbage wedges: When chopping the core from each wedge, try not to remove the entire core. Instead, leave just a thin portion of the core with each wedge. Take a look at the photo below: you'll see two wedges, one which I cut away too much core, and the other where I cut away just the right amount....

As you can see in the wedge on the left, the outer leaves are loose and separating away from the wedge, while the other wedge is held together by a thin sliver of core. The wedge on the left was incredibly difficult to flip over and otherwise handle during roasting, while the guy on the right was much easier to deal with as the cabbage leaves softened. It's not a big deal either way, but leaving just a trace of core on each wedge makes these guys quite a bit easier to handle, especially as they soften during cooking.

2) On the cooking time: Okay. The cooking time for this dish is a variable. It depends on how big the cabbage is, how thick your wedges are, and how crunchy or chewy you like your cabbage when roasted.

Here's my advice: Start with 15 minutes on one side and about 12-14 minutes on the second side. After that, you'll want to check the pieces every 2-3 minutes. The first time we made this dish, it was 15 minutes per side exactly, and the cabbage was perfectly tender, with just a little bit of crunch. The second time we made it we used a larger cabbage, and the cooking time was more like 15 minutes on one side and then 20 minutes on the other side. Enjoy!

Related Posts:
How to Resist Temptation and Increase Your Power Over Food
On the Benefits of Being a Part-Time Vegetarian
Roasted Zucchini and Chickpea Soup
Told to Eat Its Vegetables, The New York Times Wrings Its Hands


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