Corn Tortillas Layered with Garlicky Wilted Cabbage & Chard, Black Beans & Eggs

Dear Readers,
My friends Sherrie & Mindy gave me these adorable little eggs from their backyard flock of hens. I wanted to create a recipe to feature these delicious cute tiny eggs. What I came up with is this recipe that features soft corn tortillas layered with garlicky wilted cabbage & swiss chard, black beans, fried eggs, and I used some roasted green tomato chipotle sauce I preserved in the Autumn. You could use any salsa, enchilada sauce, or hot sauce for this dish. The flavors stand on their own. Whatever sauce you choose, don't use a lot. A little goes a long way to mingle with the other flavors of this recipe. And, this is a VERY improvisational recipe so there aren't exacts. Play with it. Play with your food. Just play as much as possible. Create beautiful food and follow your bliss. Life is short. Enjoy!

In Health & Joy,
Miss Jolie Ann

Corn Tortillas Layered with Garlicky Wilted Greens, Black Beans & Fried Eggs
Serves 2

2 cups shredded purple cabbage
2 cups thinly sliced swiss chard
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
1 clove garlic, minced
Butter (less than one tablespoon)--or more olive oil to keep it vegan
4 corn tortillas
14oz can black beans
2 eggs
1/2c cup salsa, enchilada sauce, or hot sauce--your choice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the cabbage and a pinch of sea salt. Saute for 3-5 minutes. You want the cabbage to be slightly wilted, but still firm and retaining it's color. Add the swiss chard and garlic. Saute for 1 minute, no longer. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Add a very thin slice of butter to the pan. Add one tortilla and cook on each side approximately 1 minute. Set aside. Continue to cook all 4 tortillas individually. If the pan gets dry, add it more butter. (If you don't do dairy you can easily substitute olive oil)
3. While the tortillas are cooking, drain and rinse the black beans. Set aside.
4. Once the tortillas are cooked, use the same pan for the eggs. Add a tiny bit of butter if the pan is dry. Fry the eggs over medium heat until the yokes are firm but not hard.
5. Put 2 tortillas on each plate and begin layering. First tortillas, then sauce, then cabbage & chard, then black beans, then 1 egg, and garnish with cilantro.

Warm Cabbage Kale & Quinoa Salad

Hello friends!

Tonight's recipe experiment was inspired by my friend Peggy. A few months ago she was raving about the Tassajara Warm Red Cabbage Salad she made from the 101 cookbooks recipe blog. I was inspired to do so and bought the ingredients including golden raisins. To be honest, I never got around to making the recipe. The bag of golden raisins remains unopened in my refrigerator. Let's back track to Peggy for a moment. Peggy is a fellow foodie, gardener, and plant geek. A social justice advocate who's committed her life to helping others, she is also a talented photographer and eloquent writer. Peggy would never toot her own horn and I'm sure will be mortified I'm writing this but I am inspired by what she has done for our community. Please check out her recent article featured in "Cooking Up A Story."

Tonight I am inspired to cook something with red cabbage, because it's what I have on hand. And my budget is so tight I'm doing a lot of cooking of what I have on hand at the moment. Suffice to say I created this entire recipe out of what I had in my cabinets and refrigerator. It's modified from the Tassajara Warm Red Cabbage Salad in that I omitted the 2 cheeses to make it vegan and I added quinoa to boost the protein and make it a more substantial main course salad. Some people love to follow recipes, me I relish in changing, adapting, and re-creating them!

I absolutely love the combination of sweet, savory, bitter, and salty in this dish. It's textures, colors and flavors are beautifully complex. It is completely loaded with vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber. Every single ingredient (with the exception of salt, pepper, vinegar & oil) is listed on the world's healthiest foods website. I love that website by the way--so check it out! I think this one takes the prize for healthy & delicious improvisational recipes. Enjoy! And, Peggy, thanks for putting the bug in my ear about warm cabbage salads!

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

Warm Cabbage Kale & Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa
1 yellow onion, peeled & diced
olive oil
salt & pepper
1/2 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw unsalted almonds, slivered or sliced
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 head red cabbage, washed, cored & shredded
1 bunch thin young carrots, washed & shredded
1 bunch "lacinato" kale, washed, stemmed & shredded

1. Place 1 cup quinoa with 2 cups water in a covered saucepan. Bring to a boil. Once boiling turn the heat down to a medium simmer. Cook covered for 15 minutes until the liquid is gone and the quinoa grains are light & fluffy.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, warm 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes until the onions are translucent and beginning to brown.
3. When quinoa is cooked place it in a large mixing bowl and add the cooked onions. Stir and set aside.
4. In the warm skillet pan add another splash of olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add the sunflower seeds and almonds. Cook over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes until they are toasted. Add the balsamic vinegar and the raisins. Let cook approximately 2 more minutes until the raisins are warm and the vinegar has reduced. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Remove pan from heat and add the nut-raisin mixture to the quinoa-onion mixture in the large mixing bowl. Set aside.
5. In the warm skillet pan add another splash of olive oil and continue to warm over medium heat. Add the cabbage and stir. Cover and cook approximately 5 minutes. You only want the cabbage to be slightly soft and wilted. Do not overcook. Add cooked cabbage to the mixing bowl.
6. In the warm skillet pan and another splash of olive oil and continue to warm over medium heat. Add the carrots and stir. Cover and cook approximately 5 minutes. You only want the carrots to slightly soften. Do no overcook. Add the cooked carrots to the mixing bowl.
7. In the warm skillet pan and another splash of olive oil and continue to warm over medium heat. Add the kale. Cover and cook approximately 3 minutes. You only want the kale to slightly wilt. It should still be bright green and slightly crunchy. Do not overcook. Add the cooked kale to the mixing bowl.
8. Now all the ingredients are complete in the mixing bowl. Stir until well combined. Taste for flavor and add salt & pepper, olive oil or balsamic as needed. Serve warm.

Creamy Cabbage Soup

Creamy Cabbage Soup Recipe
Adapted from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest

I love cabbage. I guess I'm a weirdo like that. I love it raw in salads and slaws. And I really love it just steamed plain with no spices. I know weird. Cabbage is a great all season veggie. There are many varieties that mature pretty much every month of the year. Cabbage has great winter survival capacity in the pacific northwest. Currently in my garden I've got some heads of savoy cabbage that should be mature enough for harvest in about another month. I've also got 'red ace' as an overwintering variety that will be ready for harvest in the late spring. On the nutrition side, did you know that cabbage evokes a super high anticancer response in the human body? It offers tons of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. So people, in summary cabbage is an all around super food. Start adding it to your diet if you aren't already.

When I first tried the Creamy Cabbage Soup Recipe one year ago I was disappointed. It was watery and bland. So I've given it another try and adjusted the ingredients. I was quite pleased with the result this week. It was like a mashed potatoes-with-cabbage soup surprise. Yummy and satisfying. Enjoy!

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

Creamy Cabbage Soup

Yields about 6 servings

4 medium sized yukon gold potatoes, chopped with skin on

1/2-1 cup plain soymilk or milk

1/2-1 cup lite sour cream

4 tbsp salted butter

1 clove garlic, minced

sea salt

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

2 tsp dried whole caraway seed

1 medium head green cabbage, shredded

3 cups (approx) water

fresh ground black pepper

1. Bring a stock pot of water to boil and add the chopped potatoes. Let boil until very soft, about 30 minutes.

2. Drain potatoes, reserving a little water for mashing.

3. Add enough soymilk and sour cream for the mashed potato consistency that you like-creamy or chunky. Also add butter, garlic and salt (to taste) to the potatoes. Mash or whip-whichever is your desired method. Taste and adjust salt. Set aside.

4. In a stockpot warm olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until soft and slightly browned, about 10 minutes.

5. Add caraway seed and let warm for about 1 minute.

6. Add the cabbage and cook for about 2 more minutes.

7. Add enough water to just barely cover the cabbage. Place a lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn heat down to medium and let simmer.

8. Simmer for approximately 10-15 minutes if you like your cabbage bright green and a little crunchy. Simmer for 20-30 minutes if you like your cabbage softer, which will change the color from bright to blah.

9. Once the cabbage is done cooking, remove from heat. Add the mashed potato mixture and black pepper. Stir well and check the flavor. Add more salt and/or pepper to your liking.

10. Serve warm.