I tried this new recipe today and wasn't quite sure if I should file it under meat or veggies since it's about half and half. I went with meat because it's not a side dish or salad. It was very good and seems very appropriate for fall. However, it was hot down here in Houston today so having my oven going for three hours probably wasn't the smartest thing I could have done, LOL.



MOM'S CRAZY CABBAGE
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 small onion, chopped, 2 1/2 ounces
1 small cabbage, coarsely chopped, about 1 pound 13 ounces before trimming *
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 strips bacon
Salt and pepper, to taste

Brown the beef and onion; drain off the grease and season with salt and pepper. Put half of the cabbage in the bottom of a greased 9x13" baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Top with the meat then the remaining cabbage; season again. Pour or spoon the tomatoes evenly over the cabbage and lay the strips of bacon over the top. Cover with foil and bake at 325º for 3 hours. Discard the bacon before serving.

Makes 6 servings

* I figured 1 1/2 pounds after trimming into the carb counts. Don't use a larger cabbage or it won't all fit in the baking dish.

Per Serving: 259 Calories; 15g Fat; 22g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 3.5g Dietary Fiber; 6.5g Net Carbs

I found this recipe in a healthy recipe cookbook that I bought many years ago. I never got around to trying it until now and it was already low carb without any tweaking. I couldn't figure out why the recipe would say to bake this for three whole hours but I went ahead and followed the instructions. Although the pan is going to be a pain in the neck to wash, the result is that the cabbage and ground beef have a wonderful slow roasted flavor. I thought that the cabbage would turn to mush but it's just right. I don't really taste the bacon but I'm sure that it added a depth to the over flavor of the dish. If your oven bakes a little too hot, you may want to set it to 300º. The bottom of my baking dish got very dark but those dark bits add a lot of flavor as long as they're not burnt.

Linda - strikes again! What a FABULOUS looking meal!!! We've had the pineapple meatballs, the sweet and sour pork was AMAZING!!! I mean, it, my family BEGGED to have it again (albeit it was quite a bit of work because I almost doubled it) - but even the leftovers were great!!

Linda,
I just made this tonight and OMG!!! I can't stop eating it!!!
I LOVE IT!!! It's my new favorite
Thanks soooooo much. I really couldn't have come this far without all your wonderful recipes. I would have gotten board LONG ago.
*HUGS*

Here is mine



YUMMY!!!

I'm glad you liked it, Niki. I love cabbage but I can't make it too often because my husband complains that it gives him terrible gas. I also have problems if I eat too much of it. It's a shame because there are so many yummy things that you can do with cabbage, cooked and raw.

LMAO!!! I was wondering why I was so gassy

BUT, it was sooooo worth it...lol

This dish looks awesome and sounds wonderful! I'll be trying it very soon. Thanks for sharing.

This looks great Linda! I can't wait to try it.. my hubby loves anything with cabbage in it. Question about the pan.. could we line the baking pan with foil or parchment paper to help with clean up? (I'm all about making clean up easier.. )

Ok, thanks!

Another question. Could this be made in a crockpot? I love to use my slowcooker on Sundays and let lunch cook while we are at church. I as going to try it this last Sunday, but I wan't sure how long I'd need to cook it and at what temperature. I didn't want to come home to burnt cabbage. I looked everywhere for a description of the high/low temps for crockpots and they all say the same thing about it varying due to wattage. What temp and time would you try on this?

Thanks!

Amy, to me it seems like an ideal dish for a crockpot. Even if a slow cooker cooks at a temperature higher than 325º, you'll likely end up with a lot more liquid slow cooking it than the way it comes out baked. I was surprised at how little liquid there was (almost none), but you know that those canned tomatoes and the cabbage are going to give off a ton of liquid in a crockpot and it won't be able to evaporate like it obviously did in the oven just covered with foil. The extra liquid would probably keep it from scorching but you may want to crack the lid toward the end of the cooking to get rid of some of the liquid so you won't end up with a soup instead of a casserole.

As far as how long to cook it, the standard seems to be 6-8 hours on low for most things. Just guessing, but that sounds good to me. If you turned it on around 8:00 and you get home from church by 1:00, that would give you an hour leeway. If it's done, great. If not, give it a little more time with the lid off. I think that the smell of it when you walk in the door will make you want to eat it right away whether it looks like soup or not!

Linda,

I made this in the crockpot for dinner tonight. It was fabulous! I cooked it on low for 6 hours and it was just right. Only a few black pieces of cabbage around the edges where they touched the crockpot. It wasn't soupy at all. It was perfect! Now I have a new favorite for Sunday! Thanks so much!

I made this and LOVED it, but my cabbage did not darken up at all on the bottom. I think the flavor would be even better if it had. I only cooked it 2hr 40 minutes. Would that have made the difference? I used a white 13x9 corning wear dish to cook it in.