Warm Cabbage and Green Beans

Adapted by Elaine Louie

Total Time: 2 hours
Rating: 4(45)
Notes: Read community notes

Featured in: Cabbage’s Sweet Side

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

For the Spiced Butter

8ounces clarified butter or ghee
½cup coarsely chopped red onion
1garlic clove, minced
12-inch piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
½teaspoon fenugreek seeds
½teaspoon ground cumin
½teaspoon cardamom seeds
½teaspoon dried oregano
¼teaspoon ground turmeric
4basil leaves

For the Cabbage and Green Beans

1pound cabbage or Napa cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded
1medium red onion, thinly sliced
3cups cherry tomatoes, or 5 large tomatoes
7ounces chopped canned tomatoes
3garlic cloves, minced
1tablespoon mustard seeds
1tablespoon nigella sativa seeds (available in specialty stores)
1teaspoon ground turmeric
1teaspoon berbere (available in specialty stores) or chili powder
½teaspoon ground cardamom, preferably freshly ground
13-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
3cups green beans, trimmed and cut in half
½teaspoon salt
Injera (available at Ethiopian or Eritrean restaurants) or rice, for serving, optional

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

For the Spiced Butter
1. Step 1
  To make the spiced butter: Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat, and add onion, garlic, ginger, fenugreek, cumin, cardamom, oregano, turmeric and basil. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let stand until spices settle, about 10 minutes, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a heat-proof bowl. It may be stored in a tightly covered container for up to 3 weeks.
2. Step 2
  To make the cabbage and green beans: Melt ½ cup spiced butter in a 12-to-14-inch sauté pan over medium heat. Add cabbage and sliced onion, and sauté until the cabbage is wilted, about 5 minutes. Add fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, garlic, mustard seeds, nigella seeds, turmeric, berbere, cardamom and ginger. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and fragrant, about 30 minutes.
3. Step 3
  Meanwhile, pour 6 cups water into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Set aside a bowl of ice water. Add green beans to boiling water, reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain, plunge beans into ice water until chilled, then drain again.
4. Step 4
  Fold green beans into tomatoes and cabbage. Simmer until the beans take on flavors of the spiced sauce, about 10 minutes. Adjust salt to taste. If desired, serve with injera or rice.

Ratings

4 out of 5

45 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

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Hilary H.1 year ago

This was a very tasty way to cook cabbage. I used both Napa and red. I didn't have nigella or berbere (I used chili powder), and I didn't put in as much ginger as the recipe calls for. I also cut up and boiled some slices of potato (about 3 cups) which I added to the mix with the green beans for them to pick up some of the flavor of the spices. And I didn't put in as many green beans - about half of what's in the recipe. Delicious!

Lisa2 years ago

This was delicious and made easier by stewing the green beans with the rest of the dish rather than cooking them separately. Other than having a lot of spices to measure and different components (made easier as described above), there wasn’t that much prep work. Not sure what all the fuss is about. Plus, fresh spices are ideal for maximum flavor.

Marian3 years ago

This recipe was a lot of work, and I didn't think it was worth all the effort. If you do make this, I would definitely make it in a large pot or dutch oven rather thank a sauté pan. There are just too many ingredients to fit in a sauté pan. I also added a squeeze of lime and some yogurt for serving.

irene3 years ago

Painful. So many ingredients & steps, but colorful & tasty.

sandra6 years ago

This is so tasty and interesting, and not too spicy. Now that I have all the ingredients, I'm going to make it often. I had this with injera using Marcus Samuelsson's speedy recipe for injera made with club soda.

vwgrant6 years ago

This recipe became the starting point to use up cabbage and green beans in my frig. While I followed what I could ( no Injera, no nigella) I found 5 inches total of ginger to be too gingery for my taste. I added chick peas in an attempt to dial down the ginger. I also found the garlic over dominated the flavors (but then, I didn't use particularly fresh garlic so that's not the recipe's fault.) I liked the idea of the spiced butter and will explore that further.

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