Chicken and Mexican Cabbage

Chicken and Mexican Cabbage

I’ve got some little guys that I am quite fond of that used to come to my house before SCD and I always made them chicken and rice. It delighted me to no end to see them consume the entire large pan full.

They too are on the GAPS/SCD diet now and so I decided to attempt to make something similar in flavor so I can again treat these little men when they come to my house.  My first attempt at this was not successful, I confess it tasted like cabbage.  So today I tried again…

I started with part of a head of cabbage, cooked it slowly in lard and some coconut oil.  As I cooked the cabbage I added in some dried green pepper chunks (I would have used fresh except I was out) and a small onion.   I cooked the cabbage until tender and then drizzled in some annatto oil (annatto seeds soaked in olive oil), this gave the cabbage a yellow color and is what  the Latin Americans use to yellow their rice.  (Saffron is expensive and few places make true yellow rice with saffron) 

Okay, once I got the color just about right, I added salt, cumin, paprika.  It didn’t taste quite like I wanted (perhaps too much cumin)  So I decided to add a light drizzle of honey and a about 3 tbsp of tomato sauce.  I simmered this together, wondered if I dare add in the crushed garlic and decided that everything is better with garlic!  So I added two.  And I was right, the garlic, tomato, and honey just went together perfectly.    So my creative juices, decided this was actually going to turn out tasting similar to Mexican rice so I tossed in some dried jalapeno pieces just for fun.

I am happy to say that this experiment turned out very good.  I served this with some baked beans , avocado with onion, and salsa.   No, not like the former rice dish that I made but certainly not bad!  For those that like Mexican rice this is pretty close.  I would not be ashamed to feed this to my little friends.