Little Switches: New Vegetarian Dinners

No matter how much you try to innovate in the kitchen, you can quickly fall into routines. My husband grew up in a house where every Monday was spaghetti and meatballs, every Tuesday, steak, every Wednesday, overcooked fish, every Thursday, dry chicken, every Friday a pot roast (also over cooked). They went out on Saturday nights or the parents went out & the kids ate TV dinners. Apparently, they didn’t eat on Sundays.

My mother served a more eclectic, and less overcooked, mix, but she did pretty much serve chicken one of 3 ways, (I hated all of them) fish 2 or 3 different ways and everything with no salt and little flavor.

I vowed to be different, but now as my kids have gotten older, they make odd declarations, like “you know I don’t eat lentils” or “when have I ever liked (insert name of that night’s dinner).

So I’ve decided to just make new vegetarian foods every night and, in a little switch, not even take into consideration everyone’s likes and dislikes. You eat it, great, If not, leftovers.

I found a recipe for a cabbage and potato gratin recently. I was not even sure I would like it - I grew up hating cabbage. One kid sneered, then ate all the potatoes. I could swear a teensy bit of green was clinging to some of the potatoes.

The other kid expressed surprise, said she didn’t like cabbage, took a big helping, and ate it all.

And you know what? I liked it, too.

1 pound Yellow Finn potatoes, cut into ¼ inch slices
1 ½ pounds green cabbage, cut into ribbons
Salt and black pepper
¼ cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, chopped, or 1 tablespoon dried
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/3 cups skim milk
3 eggs
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 cup flour

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Bring a gallon of water to a boil.  Add the potatoes and boil until nearly tender (about 6 minutes).  Remove from boiling water with a slotted spoon.  Set aside.
Add the cabbage to the water and boil for about 5 minutes.  Drain and dry in a kitchen towel.
Combine the potatoes, cabbage, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Cottonelle blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

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