Moments in the kitchen (cabbage, onions, potatoes...and Coke?!)

This is the story of how what I have on hand gets into dishes I make (usually, for myself first, then for the family...).

I had shredded cabbage, onion, and potatoes--and the pantry.  I am still trying to offset some of the calories I took on board during vacation.  Also, I am still unwilling to compromise on the enjoyment of eating.  And still, I'm always trying to up the nutritional value of what I prepare...  but yes, I did say Coke.

Started out with a teaspoon of butter in a heated pan...added wedge-sliced onion.  Sauteed that a bit, golden, and a touch crispy--like I like it--and then added the cabbage-red and green.  Thought-hmmm...that's likely not going to last for long (as in, I'll be foraging for snacks before I'm even done eating it!).  It needed something heavier, so I added in slivered baby purple potatoes-but only three tiny guys, hoping that the steam from the sauteeing cabbage would be sufficient for cooking them.

It wasn't.  Needed more liquid.  So I thought "sour"... and added in a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.  For balance, and smoothness, I swirled some olive oil over it...and then, for the sweet/sour flavour punch, I added a tablespoon of panela-which is the raw sugar I have available here...salt, pepper, toyed with and ultimately rejected the idea of adding a herb.  Dill might have been alright-but that's a usual for me, so I skipped it in pursuit of a different flavour.

I let that simmer away, caramelizing the veggies on the bottom, stirred it a bit, and then, when I went to stir it for a third time, it was quite caramelized (but on the "not" side of burnt), but I needed immediate deglazing, or it would have been carbonized.  Looking for liquid, and in a sweet/sour mode-I reached for the Coke that the big boys had with their pizza last night-handily left out on the counter, and added a couple tablespoons of that-- (thought process: coke? that's sweet...when does that work? yeah ok...pulled pork...pulled pork sandwiches and coleslaw, coleslaw's cabbage...yep- tryin' it!)

End results were delicious to me...and a nice change of flavour pace.  When I make this again, I'll make sure I start the potatoes a little sooner in the process to help them along quickly, in turn, reducing the time in the pan and the danger of burning the lot!

So that's a lunch...and I balanced the seat of pants approach with some tried and true.  I made grilled cheeses for the kids.  And, they had left-over pizza too:)

Cheers and Chao!