Wasabi-Ginger Coleslaw for One

This tangy side dish can serve double duty—put it on your sandwich! Yummmm!

½ teaspoon wasabi powder

½ teaspoon water

3 leaves of cabbage, chopped (I used napa, but any kind of cabbage will do)

1 slice of red onion, diced

Small handful of cilantro or parsley, chopped

½ carrot, grated

1 radish, grated or chopped

½-inch ginger, peeled and diced fine

1 TBLSP vegan mayonnaise

½ TBLSP of pickle juice or apple cider vinegar

Ground black pepper, to taste

1 TBLSP peanuts for decoration

1. In a small bowl, combine the wasabi powder with the water and set it aside to think about stuff. (Wasabi is a very philosophical vegetable.) Use more or less powder, depending on your tastes—just keep the ratio of water to powder the same.
2. Chop and put the cabbage, onion, cilantro, carrot, and radish into a small bowl.
3. The wasabi should be a nice paste, so add the ginger, mayonnaise, pickle juice, and black pepper to it. Stir it with enthusiasm to make a nice dressing. Make sure that the lumps are ginger—not wasabi—or you’re in for some trouble later.
4. Slosh the dressing over the cabbage mixture and stir it up. Maybe “toss” is a better word.
5. Top with peanuts and devour.

Shown here on a Buttermilk Biscuit (recipe coming soon), with roasted asparagus draped across, and some vegan mozzarella melted over the whole lovely thing under the broiler. It wasn't a tidy sandwich, but it sure was good! 

Sweet Potato and Cabbage Scramble for One

This quick stir-fry takes advantage of things you probably have in your refrigerator right now. It’s earthy, it’s filling, it’s quick, and it’s oh, so yummy!

½ large sweet potato, cut into ½-inch cubes

Slosh of olive oil

¼ cup large dice green cabbage

2 slices yellow onion, diced

2 mushrooms, halved and sliced thinly

1 clove garlic, diced small

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Slosh tamari or soy sauce

1 teaspoon nutritional yeast

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

¼ cup cubed baked tofu

1. Stir-fry the sweet potato in the oil for about 5 minutes, until it starts to soften.
2. Add in the cabbage and continue stir-frying for another 5 minutes until the cabbage is a bit wilted and the sweet potato is nearly soft.
3. Add in the onion and mushrooms, and keep right on stir-frying until the onions are a bit transparent.
4. Now, toss in the garlic, rosemary, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, and pepper and keep right on stir-frying until the garlic disappears a bit.
5. Add in the tofu, and fry until the tofu is warmed through.

 Serve over toast for breakfast, on its own for lunch, or over rice for dinner. 

Lachanosoupa (Cabbage Soup) for One

It’s starting to feel like I’ve had this cold since the dawn of time. What will make me feel better? A quick bowl of Lachanosoupa, a hearty Greek delicacy, if you ask me.

1 TBLSP olive oil

2 TBLSP chopped yellow onions

1 TBLSP diced garlic

Pinch of salt

A few grinds of black pepper

Pinch of dill (fresh is best, but use dried if that’s all you’ve got)

Pinch of dried thyme

3 TBLSP shredded or diced zucchini

3 TBLSP shredded or diced carrots

1 cup chopped cabbage

1 ½ cup water (you could use stock, but it’s more flavor than you need)

2/3 cup cooked rice

Squirt of freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. In olive oil, sauté the onions over low heat until they’re translucent. Add garlic and cook for one minute more.
2. Add the salt, pepper, dill, and thyme, and cook on low for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the zucchini and carrots. Cook on low for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the cabbage, and cook until it begins to wilt, perhaps 5 minutes.
5. Add the water, and stir to combine completely. Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes until the veggies are fork tender.
6. Add the rice and cook 5 minutes more, until the rice is heated through.
7. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. 

Great with crusty bread, a salad, or as a starter to a heavy meal. But you won’t need that heavy stuff. You’ll be ready to go plow the fields after this little bowl of treasure. 

Hot Apple and Cabbage Slaw for One

If you’re feeling Bohemian, this is a simple and fast meal to help maintain the mood.

1 TBLSP olive oil

½ an apple (any kind is fine, sweet or tart), cored and chopped

¼ yellow onion, chopped

1 or 2 mushrooms, sliced thinly

2/3 cup chopped cabbage (green or red)

2 TBLSP grated carrot

1 TBLSP caraway seeds

2 TBLSP (or more) of Dijon-style mustard

Slosh of rice vinegar (or other mild vinegar, like cider)

Salt and pepper to taste 

1. In a frying pan, heat the oil. Add in the apple and onion, and cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until it’s pretty fragrant, but nothing is really starting to break down yet.
2. Add in the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have released and reabsorbed most of their liquids, about another 5 minutes.
3. Add in the cabbage and carrot and continue to cook until it softens a bit, about another 3 or 4 minutes.
4. Toss in the caraway seeds and blop the mustard in after them, stirring until the mustard is spread throughout. If it seems too dry, add some water, white wine, or beer. Yummm. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve hot. I like mine with a little Yves Beer Brat or Bratwurst, and served on a bit of greenery.

Variations:

• Try it with quartered Brussel sprouts instead of the cabbage. They will need a little more time to cook than the cabbage so maybe put them in with the mushrooms.
• Add walnut pieces.
• Replace the caraway seeds with cumin seeds and some garlic.
• Toss in some capers for a salty surprise.

Quick-Pickled Cabbage Confetti for One

I love pickles, don’t you? Did you know that they don’t have to be made of summer cucumbers and they don’t have to take a long time and a huge amount of kitchen real-estate? In fact, if you want a pickle right now, you can just march into the kitchen and pickle something!

1 TBLSP olive oil

1/8 head of cabbage, sliced thinly (red or white, both are yummy)

¾ of a large carrot, shredded

3 thin slices of red onion, diced

2 ½ TBLSP granulated sugar

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1 TBLSP fennel seeds

Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large frying pan, place the olive oil, sliced cabbage, shredded carrot, onion, sugar, and vinegar. Cook it on medium-high heat until about 2/3rds of the liquid is gone.
2. Add the fennel seeds and the salt and pepper and continue cooking until the rest of the liquid is gone and the veggies are tender.

Makes a great side dish for faux dogs, but, as you can see in the picture, I like it on my pizza.

Variations:

• Use caraway seeds instead of fennel for a more traditional sauerkraut flavor.
• Jazz it up with cumin instead of fennel seeds.
• Add shredded fennel bulb for a stronger licorice flavor.