The FastDay Forum

C is for that deeevine, but maligned veg, Cabbage!

I love it stir fried, with onion and some caraway seeds, until it's browned at the edges and crispy.
I also love it raw in slaw!
Braised red cabbage with apples and juniper is another favourite.

What other recipes can you add for Cabbage, cauliflower, calabrese, celeriac etc.

I absolutely adore cabbage!

Love it lightly steamed with black paper, flaky salt and a squeeze of lemon. Add butter or olive oil if you're not fasting

The smallest amount of bacon enhances cabbage beyond belief. Stir-fry the bacon until barely cooked, then add cabbage shreds.

Can't forget mixing it into mash for a satisfying texture and reduced calorie/carb count per portion.

Celeriac is excellent as a base in vegetable soups. Add to a minestrone style soup in place of pasta, or to any mixed veg soup. I love it raw as well, or mixed with potato in a boulangere or gratin style dish.

Carrot and ginger soup, warming and low calorie for a fast day at around 85 cals per quarter portion.
2 onions peeled and chopped
2 crushed garlic cloves
piece of fresh root ginger peeled and grated
1 tsp olive oil
750 g carrots chopped
1 litre veg stock
Stir fry onions, garlic and ginger in oil, adding a little water to prevent sticking if necessary until softened.
Add carrots, stock , bring to boil, cover, simmer till soft.
Blend and season to taste.
Have also tried this replacing the ginger with curry powder/paste and this was good too!

Celeriac chips - cut chip shaped pieces from a celeriac (peel it first), roll in a mix of oil, paprika and salt, then cook on a baking tray in a hot oven for 25 mins

Yum with steak, fried eggs, gammon, anything really

Then there's cucumber, chicory, celery, chick peas, courgettes, cress...gosh, so many veg beginning with 'C'

Oohhh felafel burgers....yum. Now where's my recipe...

Cauliflower yum, will give you my latest cauliflower au gratin recipe with cos and coral lettuce, carrot, celery capsicum salad. Oh so many 'c' in the one meal !!!

Cauliflower 1 whole broken into evenly sized flowerettes bigger than a golf ball
Water 1/4 cup
1 dessertspoon butter
2 tbspns gluten free flour
300 mls lite milk
Grated Nutmeg generous sprinkle
A few Grinds of Sea salt and peppercorns
Grated cheese 2 lightly packed cups mixed mozzarella and haloumi (save 1/3 for topping)

Topping
2 tbsns Seedy nut mix of almond flakes, sesame seeds, pepita and sunflower seeds
2 tbspns Finely Chopped green and white spring onion
1 tbspn Italian parsley some stalk and leaves finely chop stems and roughly chop leaves
1/3 of the saved grated cheese

I nuked a cauliflower with water in covered dish in microwave until still tad firm firm, drain off water. Place pieces into a lightly buttered pie dish neatly arranged in one layer.
Make cheats béchamel sauce, I nuke the butter in a Pyrex glass jug 1 minute add the flour and mix until smooth paste then add milk and whisk until smooth. Nuke this for 1 minute then take out and mix again to smooth and might need to nuke again 30 sec to 1minute. Then add 2/3 of cheese, nutmeg and salt and pepper. The heat of sauce melts the cheese and you just have to whisk to amalgamate then pour creamy sauce to cover cauliflower

Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the top of the cauliflower. Bake the cauliflower in oven until the top is golden which will be at least 30 minutes, but keep,an eye on it.

Serve with a salad of mixed lettuce leaves, a soft red coral and small cos broken up over which I sprinkled match sized sticks capsicum and carrots, finely shredded celery and white spring onion and 2 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh dill. No dressing needed

I also love braised red cabbage. I do mine with apples, cinnamon, ground coriander, ground cumin, rosemary, cider and vegetable stock. I add pecan nuts at the point of serving.


I make a quick chick pea and cauliflower curry.

I first sweat onion and garlic in a little coconut oil, then add a chopped dried chilli, garam masala, tumeric, ground cumin, and ground coriander. I then add chopped cauliflower, and water and cook until the cauliflower is almost cooked. I then add a can of chickpeas and heat until warmed through. I will taste at that point and adjust seasonings. You could at that point add a little yoghurt or coconut milk.

I don't have set quantities, but experiement and adjust to taste.

Cauliflower makes a lovely creamy soup. Someone posted a recipe for cauliflower and garlic soup which ws lovely. I also make one with cauliflower, onion and celery simply cooked in vegetable stock and whizzed in the blender, You could make it even creamier with added milk or cream, but it doesn't really need it. You could also add ground almonds before you blend it. That's beautiful, but very rich.

I also make "thunder and lightning", or did when I ate carbohydrates. Sweat garlic in a little olive oil, add chickpeas. Add the garlicky chickpeas to drained pasta and there you have it. It is particularly good with spaghetti. You could make it even tastier by adding a tablespoon of pesto and a little grated cheese, if you eat it. I'm sure that it would also work with coconut oil, but a good olive oil goes well with the pesto.

Mm, I've just thought of capers. Not a vegetable, but then neither are chickpeas.

However, I make a lovely sauce which I used to have with pasta or jacket potato. I now have it by itself!

Sweat onion and garlic until softened add chopped tomatoes and a few sundried tomatoes if you have them, add sliced red pepper and sliced mushrooms. Cook until these are soft. Add a little chilli in whatever form suits you. Season with basil and salt and pepper to taste. Add chopped black olives and rinsed capers. Just before serving add a couple of tablespoons of sun dried tomato pesto.

This has very strong flavours which I love. You can also make it with tinned chopped tomatoes.

WoW! you sound a very creative and inventive cook @Bracken!

Absolutely agree Callyanna, nice suggestions Bracken

Although this is not helpful...I like my cabbage boiled along with a nice fatty piece of corned beef! Then dress with mustard and a bit of butter.

Carrot & butter nut squash mash!
Add coconut milk + tiny bit of coconut, + garlic
instead of butter + dairy milk.
Yum! Salt + pepper of course and don't eat the whole lot in one go!

Coriander. Love it! I adore it as the basis for a salad. Fabulous with chickpeas, onion, olive oil, balsamic and chopped cucumber and tomato. Add bacon or smoked mackerel if you like.

Or, go oriental with sesame oil and orange dressing - yum!

I grew up in the Middle East where they treat leafy herbs such as parsley and coriander like we use lettuce. Packed full of vitamins and iron, it's a very healthy way to use them.

Curry... My curry tonight contained courgette, cauliflower, carrot and chickpeas!