Grilled Cabbage Steaks with Sun Dried Tomato White Bean Puree & Chimichurri Lentils

New Year’s resolutions often include a promise to get healthy, lose weight and even sometimes ditch meat. This recipe checks all of those boxes! It’s a cabbage recipe that is not a flavourless lackluster diet cabbage soup. It will keep you full and satisfied from the beans and lentils and has a bright kick from the chimichurri and sun-dried tomatoes. You can easily half this recipe if you don’t want any leftovers, although it holds up nicely once reheated. It can be served as a main dish or as a side.

Grilled Cabbage Steaks with Sun Dried Tomato White Bean Puree & Chimichurri Lentils

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Yield: Serves 8 as a main (2 wedges per person)

INGREDIENTS

For the Chimichurri Lentils

• 1 cup green lentils

• 4 cups water

• 1 bay leaf

• 2/3 bunch of flat leaf parsley, stems removed (plus more for garnish)

• 4 cloves of garlic

• 2 tablespoons of fresh oregano

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

• ¼ cup red wine vinegar

• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder

• Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Sun Dried Tomato White Bean Puree

• 2 tbsp. olive oil

• 2 (~200 ml) jars sun dried tomatoes packed in oil (reserve 3 tbsp. of the oil)

• 1 yellow onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 (400ml) cans white beans

• 1.5 cups vegetable broth

• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Grilled Cabbage Steaks

• 2 medium cabbages

• Drizzle of olive oil

• 1 tsp. onion powder

• 1 tsp. garlic powder

• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Thoroughly rinse and drain the lentils. Add them to a medium saucepan with the water and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a low simmer, cover and cook for 18-20 minutes, until tender but not mushy.

While the lentils are cooking, make the chimichurri dressing. Place all remaining ingredients “for the chimichurri lentils” in a food processor or blender and pulse until small chunks of parsley remain. If you don’t want to use a food processor or blender, chop the parsley and the oregano, mince the garlic and whisk all other ingredients together.

When the lentils are done, drain the water, discard the bay leaf and pour ¾ of the chimichurri dressing overtop while the lentils are warm. Gently stir and set aside at room temperature.

Heat the olive oil and oil from the sun-dried tomatoes in a large saucepot over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the beans, sun dried tomatoes (drained from any remaining oil) and the vegetable broth and increase the heat to medium high. Cook until the broth has reduced by half, around 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and blend using an immersion blender or transfer the contents to a regular blender. If using a regular blender, ensure you let the steam escape through the top while blending otherwise it could cause a mini explosion/ huge mess. You can do this by removing the centre of the lid, and covering with a dish towel while blending. Blend until smooth and keep warm until ready to use.

Preheat the grill to medium heat.

Remove the tough outer leaves of the heads of cabbage. Keeping the core intact, cut each cabbage into 8 even wedges. Drizzle the wedges with olive oil and season with the onion powder, garlic powder and salt and pepper.

Using heavy duty tin foil, wrap the wedges and seal them tightly. Grill, sealed, for 8 minutes then remove from foil and place the non-charred side directly on the grill for 2-3 minutes.

To serve, smear a large spoonful of the sun-dried tomato and bean puree on a plate. Place a couple of warm grilled cabbage wedges over top. Spoon ~1/4 cup of chimichurri lentils over top, and drizzle with remaining chimichurri dressing. Garnish with chopped parsley and dig in!