Simple Sides: Cabbage Steaks
By Dennis Linden
Children in this country consume an estimated 12 percent of their calories from fast food and 20 percent of all American meals are consumed in a car! The consequences are predictably unhealthy. Competing schedules in the day-to-day lives of a busy modern family make it difficult to share a home-cooked meal together, but possible. In fact, with a little planning, cooking together can become a fun family event and learning opportunity. This feature will focus on providing a child or a group of children, working together under the supervision of an adult, with one uncomplicated, healthy, and delicious side dish recipe. The dishes focus on seasonal fresh produce items and will always contain tasks that allow even the youngest kitchen helper to contribute to the family meal. Parents should always read each recipe carefully to judge the division of labor based on age and ability as well as to identify where adult attention might be especially needed.
Many of the recipes presented here will seem extremely basic, this is by design. These simple preparations will provide the culinary foundation and confidence to inspire kids to try more challenging recipes as their experience and confidence in the kitchen develops. Melissa’s encourages parents to find the time to gather as a family unit at least once a week for a dinner that everyone pitches in to prepare. It is a wonderful way to teach a child some basic culinary skills and, more importantly, cooking with your children will build memories in all your hearts forever. Enjoy your kids in the kitchen; they will be grown and gone before you know it! “No one is born a great cook; one learns by doing” – Julia Child.
The open flame of the family’s July backyard BBQ is not something kids can or should really participate in even under close supervision. Still, a child can contribute a side dish to that meal from the kitchen oven that does resemble what is on that grill. This faux “steak” recipe is simple, quick and flavorful, enhanced with the Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce of this month’s Fresh Stuff blog. Besides, there is probably a bottle of traditional steak sauce already on the table for what’s being flamed grilled. Using Fresh Stuff’s creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce mimics the other half of this “two-steak” meal right down to an auxiliary condiment for the young chef wannabe! Fun for the kids and delicious for all!
Cabbage is one of the oldest vegetables on this planet that originated in Europe thousands of years ago; first as a wild plant foraged by primitive man and then as one of the earliest known cultivated crops. Though it resembles a head of lettuce, cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable (like broccoli and kale). Modern cabbage is almost 95% water, so very low in calories yet packed with immune-boosting Vitamin C, bone-supporting Vitamin K, and essential dietary fiber. Still, unless of pure Irish descent, chances are that your kitchen helpers are probably being introduced to this nutritious, very low-calorie veggie for the first time with the recipe below. And what fun intro too by copying what is going over at the flaming grill with a steak-like side dish smothered in a tomato-based sauce that contains no fattening corn syrup like that other bottle on the table. Enjoy the difference!
Cabbage Steaks with Sun-dried Tomato Sauce
2- 4 servings (depending on cabbage head size)
Ingredients
1 head green cabbage (about 3 pounds), sliced into thick slabs
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
½ tsp. onion powder, per steak
½ tsp. ground pepper, per steak
½ tsp. paprika, per steak
¼ tsp. salt, per steak
Sun-dried tomato cream sauce to taste
Italian Parsley (garnish)
What a supervising adult should do:
Depending on the age of one’s young helpers, either closely oversee or do the slicing of the cabbage into at least 2-inch slabs, i.e., like a medium-thick steak. Oversee the careful flipping and seasoning of the delicate slabs.
What the kids can do:
Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place the cabbage steaks on the prepared baking sheet. Carefully brush both sides with olive oil. 
Then sprinkle each side with onion powder, paprika, salt & pepper to taste. 
Roast at 425° until tender and browned, about 45 minutes, flipping halfway through -- watching closely not to burn. Spoon the warmed sauce onto the steaks to taste. Garnish with parsley, if desired and serve.
