Instant Pot Sweet And Sour Red CabbageCome See My Valentine's Day Tree!

Red cabbage in 3 minutes in an Instant Pot Pressure Cooker.

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I'm Back
In case you missed me, I've been traveling in South America. I'll be telling you all about my travels to Buenos Aires, Uruguay, and Brazil in the next few weeks once I've sorted out all my pictures. The local food, wine and dancing made this a very memorable trip.

Happy Valentine's Day
OK, I admit that cabbage isn't the most romantic food I can think of for Valentine's day but it's red and it's good for the heart (it helps lower cholesterol) so I'm going with it! 

I really enjoyed my new Christmas tree this year. It's artificial (I'm allergic to the real ones) and it came with lots of pre hung LED lights . I just didn't want to take it down. So I renamed it a "celebration tree", decorated it with "heart ornaments" so that we could enjoy it for Valentines Day. Not sure how long my celebration tree will stay around. Could there be bunnies soon?

Christmas tree turned Valentines tree

Closeup of heart ornaments

Today's recipe is very similar to one of my favorite recipes, Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage and Apples, which is in my eBook, Health Begins in the Kitchen. This simplified version omits the apples, making this a very low calorie dish (57 calories per serving) and prepares it in an Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. Once the pot gets up to pressure it only takes 3 minutes to prepare. More importantly, it cooks it to perfection every time without the hassle of stirring and cooking down the liquids.

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Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage
Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free
[makes 8 servings]

Requires an Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker or similar appliance.

Ingredients
1 large head red cabbage
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons water

Directions
Cut the red cabbage in quarters vertically. Slice off the center core from each quarter and thinly slice.

Place the cabbage and all other ingredients into the Instant Pot. Don't worry that it fills more of the pot than is recommended. The cabbage will shrink when cooked.

Make sure the top vent is closed. Hit the manual button and set for 3 minutes.

After the pot comes up to high pressure and cooks for 3 minutes, hit the off button and do a quick release of the pressure. 

Carefully remove the lid, tilting it so that the steam escapes in the back. Stir the cabbage, adjust the salt and pepper if needed and serve. 

Nutrition
Per Serving: 57 calories, 0.2 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 64 mg omega-3 and 49 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 2 g protein, 14 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 185 mg sodium. 

Crunchy And Cool Summer Salad With Agave-Dijon Dressing - Perfect For Your July 4th Picnic!

Beat the heat with this raw vegan and gluten free salad
topped with agave-Dijon Dressing.

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Summer - Time to Eat More Raw Food
When the weather warms up, it's time to eat more raw food. Whether you're a vegan, vegetarian or meat eater, it's a good idea to consume lots of raw fruits and vegetables in the summer months. This blog and my ebook, Health Begins in the Kitchen, is based on a Seasonally Raw Food Plan which varies the amounts of raw food consumed with the seasons. In the winter when it's cold, our bodies crave cooked foods such as warm soups, cooked grains, and baked sweet potatoes. But for now, when the weather is hot and the farmer's market and summer gardens are flourishing, let's pile on the raw fruits and veggies!

Cool Off
We've had record breaking heat the last few weeks here on the West Coast so we've been living on raw smoothies and big salads. This simple salad makes a beautiful presentation and is very cooling for the body. The shredded cabbage and carrots give it a nice crunch. Agave is used as a substitute in this classic honey-mustard dressing for my many vegan followers but if you prefer honey, use it instead of agave.

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Summer Salad with Agave-Dijon Dressing
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 4 servings]

For the dressing
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons raw agave nectar
1 tablespoon cold-pressed hemp oil
1 clove garlic, pressed

For the salad
2 packed cups shredded red cabbage
1 large carrot, shredded (1 packed cup)
1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
freshly ground black pepper

Make the dressing by placing all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk with a fork until well combined.

Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.

Either make the salad on individual salad plates or on one large platter. 
Start by spreading the cabbage out as the base layer and then cover it with the carrots. 

Layer the shredded vegetables

Cover the carrots with cucumbers and then red onion.

Place slices of avocado around the cabbage on the bottom of the platter.
Cover with dressing, top with freshly ground black pepper and serve.

Per serving: 148 calories, 9 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 555 mg omega-3 and 2,612 g omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g protein, 17 g carbohydrates, 4 g dietary fiber, and 36 mg sodium.

Can This Red Cabbage Recipe Prevent Alzheimer’s?

The Alzheimer’s association came out with a frightening report this week that you may have seen on the news. An astounding 5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s or some form of dementia and a new case is diagnosed every 70 seconds. That’s almost one half million new cases per year! And although I read far more about how they are trying to discover a magic drug to cure this terrible disease, I don’t see enough research trying to prevent it or linking it with nutritional deficiencies. The fact that the majority of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients also suffer from other serious degenerative disorders like hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes (often linked to poor diets and lack of exercise), suggests to me that this one is too. So a lifestyle that includes exercise and a healthy diet is not only beneficial for your heart health and blood sugar but should also help mitigate the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Research shows that there is an increase in the accumulation of beta-amyloid protein in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s which could lead to cell death from free radicals. A study published in Food Science and Technology showed polyphenols in red cabbage, particularly its anthocyanins, can protect brain cells against this damage. Scientists Heo and Lee concluded that “additional consumption of vegetables such as red cabbages may be beneficial to increase chemopreventive effects in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s”. So yes, maybe my red cabbage recipe can help prevent Alzheimer’s.

I developed this recipe one year when we planted a dozen red cabbage seedlings. A few months later we had a dozen, enormous, ripe red cabbages. I cooked these cabbages in every way possible but my favorite recipe was clearly Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage and Apples. It was inspired by the Pennsylvania Red Cabbage in my Better Homes New Cook Book. I liked the idea of mixing red cabbage with apples and the contrast of the brown sugar and vinegar. However, it used bacon drippings (I don’t eat bacon and if I did, I certainly wouldn’t be cooking with the saturated fat that dripped off of it); it used a bit too much sugar and added caraway seeds. So I took the things I liked about it and made it healthier. I encourage you to do the same. When you have a recipe you like but it’s got too many unhealthy ingredients, focus on the spices and ingredients that make it tasty and reduce the excess fat, sugar and salt. It’s fun to experiment and you might end up with a real gem!

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Sweet And Sour Red Cabbage And Apples [serves 6]
1 medium head of red cabbage, cut in quarters, cored, and thinly sliced
3 apples, diced with skin
1/3 cup white or apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup unsweetened apple juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt (more or less to taste)
¼ teaspoon black pepper

In a large pot, combine thinly sliced cabbage, diced apples, vinegar, apple juice, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Once boiling, lower the heat, stir and cook covered for 15 minutes. Remove the cover and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until the liquid is evaporated, and the cabbage is the desired texture.

Per serving: 108 calories, .2 g of fat, zero grams saturated fat, zero mg cholesterol, 2 g protein, 27.3 g carbohydrate, and 5 g of fiber.