The kiddos and I were invited to a last minute dinner at Abby’s last night and my job was to bring the veggies.
But I didn’t have time to go to the store.
And all I had in the house was two big red cabbages.
But raw cabbage, without enough time to become slaw or fermented, ferments in your belly and then you’ve got a room of upset tummies and people start blaming the dog for the odor …
TMI?
Probably for a post about an incredibly easy and delicious toss together two-ingredient salad.
Oops.
Anyway.
So I had gorgeous purply red cabbage.
And I had a mason jar of ranch dressing in the fridge.
A roasting pan.
And an oven.
We were good to go.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 medium-large red cabbage
- 1 drizzle Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Sea Salt (just a dash)
- 3/4 cup mason jar ranch dressing (plus a little more in case people want it)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
After cleaning the cabbage (we let ours soak in a water-apple cider vinegar bath for about 10 minutes), core the red cabbage and slice into 6 or 8 wedges, then distribute evenly in a roasting pan.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle very lightly with salt.
Bake/Roast the cabbage for somewhere between 28-34 minutes. I didn’t want the cabbage to char, just to heat through and begin to break down the cell walls of this fibrous nutrient dense veggie. (Red cabbage has more phytonutrients than its sister green cabbage, and more antioxidants, it’s potentially anti-inflammatory and is a food recommended for people with high cholesterol, etc., etc.)
Remove the cabbage from the oven and the hot roasting pan. Let it cool in a bowl or on your cutting board. When it’s cool enough to handle, chop it into bite-sized pieces, put it in your serving bowl and combine with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of dressing and serve.
Makes about 6 servings.
A NOTE ABOUT RANCH DRESSING: Making your own for this salad really does make a huge difference. See those little green bits in the second the photo? That’s scallions and fresh parsley and dill. You don’t get that chunky goodness in store bought dressing. And you don’t get real buttermilk tasting goodness. And making it yourself takes about 5 minutes. You may recall that I haven’t bought salad dressing from a store in more than 20 years … BUT, if you must use a jar from your refrigerator, I’m going to recommend you ADD a 3-4 chopped scallions, a handlful of chopped flat-leaf parsley, and a little chopped fresh dill to your salad. The freshness will make all the difference in the world!
