Garden Harvest and an Afternoon in the Kitchen

This morning I was very happy to pick my first substantial harvest from my garden.. it was not a lot by any means but the most I’ve had this season!!

I picked another cabbage, yellow wax beans, a zucchini, a yellow squash, red leaf lettuce and a few zinnias that had bloomed…



A lot of today’s pickings were eaten today (the rest wait for another day)! I started by washing the veggies and the first thing I made was 2 dozen zucchini muffins..


Then I started working on dinner preps. I had “leftovers” on the menu but had no leftovers to serve. ~smile~ .. so I made Saturday night’s planned dinner instead and now have leftovers for tomorrow night.. On the menu I had Brats & Kraut.. when I did my weekly shopping I was disappointed to see Costco was out of brats… so I purchased some yummy chicken sausages to use in this dish instead.

The first thing I needed to do was make the kraut.. this would be “cheaters kraut”… I LOVE homemade sauerkraut and have made it many, many times.. just not recently and it takes a bit of time to make so I made this version instead (you don’t have to call it “cheaters kruat” .. it could just be called “A Darn Tasty Cabbage Dish” – ha, ha!! :)…

Cheaters Kraut

Olive oil, enough to lightly coat the bottom of a 6 quart pot
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cups (or 2 cans) of broth/stock – I used my homemade chicken stock but beef stock or veggie stock would work as well
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1T salt
1 large head of cabbage, sliced very thin (using a food processor is the easiest)

Heat up your pot on medium high and add olive oil. When the oil is hot add onions. Stir and cook until the onions are slightly soft. Add broth, apple cider vinegar & salt. Now add cabbage, you can add it slowly allowing the cabbage in the pot to wilt and shrink in size so you can get all of it in. Bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly and simmer for 20 minutes to reduce stock and blend flavors.

Here it is in pics..

Prepare cabbage and onions..



Cook onions in a bit of olive oil…



Add broth, vinegar & salt…







Now add cabbage and let it cook for 20 minutes..






While my cabbage was cooking I cut up and sautéed my chicken sausages..






When that I was done I made the sauce.. it is basically a quick version of Thousand Island Dressing..

Put ½ a cup mayo in a small bowl along with ¼ cup catsup and about 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped pickles..
 





Mix it all together and add 2T dill pickle juice (from the pickle jar)…



And the main dish is ready to serve….



I made a nice fresh green salad using that wonderful garden fresh red leaf lettuce…


I also served potato salad with this meal (which I made earlier this morning)


And of course this garden item needs no explanation as to what to do with it… ~smile~