Spicy stir-fried cabbage (courtesy of the NYT)

Tonight's gem was a Monday night effort to use up cabbage leftover from Sunday's soup. This recipe for stir-fried cabbage comes from the great New York Times feature, Recipes for Health. (View their full recipe.)

Here's the recipe as we prepared it:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (Ben added another tablespoon after we had started and then complained later that the vegetables were too oily...)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

Heat oil in large pan and cook seasonings until fragrant.

Half a large head of cabbage, julienne
2 medium carrots, julienne 
Bits of cauliflower  

Add vegetables. Here we had to break out a second pan. As usual, our stir-fry runneth over. Cook for a minute or so. 

Lots of soy sauce, at least 4 tablespoons
2 tablespoons cooking sherry

Mix soy sauce and sherry and pour over vegetables. Cook another minute or so. Spill generous amounts of cabbage on stove top as you flip the vegetables to distribute sauce.

2 tablespoons cilantro 

Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Eat and enjoy!


The cauliflower wasn't in the original recipe, but anytime Ben is sent to the store he comes back with any and all vegetables that were on sale that week, whether we needed them or not. I worried that the cauliflower would be underdone, because this dish has a short cooking time compared to most stir-fries, but it didn't turn out to be a problem.

Dinner was a hit. Ben discovered that he loves cilantro and added about twice the amount suggested in the recipe. This stir-fry was a break from our usual stand-by of stir-fried mixed vegetables. We enjoyed the break from routine, but thought this dish would work better as a side than an entree. We may try pairing with sushi or mixing in with ramen. Stay tuned to find out, kids!