Eliminate Boring and discover how tasty Cabbage can be.
Cruciferous Vegetables and their benefits
Here’s a few reasons why you might want to include more cabbage in your meals.
- Cruciferous vegetables like cabbage contain phytochemicals, that appear to help eliminate carcinogens from your body reducing cancer risk
- Contains Sulforaphanes that has been shown to cause cell death in human colon and prostate cancer cells.
- Also contains Indole-3-carbinol that improves liver detoxification to help balance hormones and also appears to have chemoprotective affects on breast cancer.
- Very good source of Vitamin C, K, folate and fibre
- Low in calories
- May reduce oxidative stress further reducing cancer risk
Cruciferous vegetables also contain goitrogens which can adversely affect thyroid function if you are not having sufficient iodine in your meals. Don’t let this be a reason for not including these healthy vegetables.
Solution – Ensure you include some seafood or seaweed in your diet as these are excellent iodine sources. This recipe does both.
Fish Tacos
Serves 4
Ingredients
500g white fish fillet cut into bite size pieces ( I use ling fillets)
2 cloves garlic minced
juice and zest (finely grated rind) of 1 lemon
1 tblspn total of cold pressed macadamia oil
2 leeks trimmed, halved lengthwise, washed and sliced about 3mm wide (both white and green part, discarding thick outer green leaf)
1 red capsicum cut into juilienne strips (diagonal strips 45cm length x 4 cm wide)
1 yellow capsicum cut into juilienne strips
2 cups of shredded white cabbage
Himalayan salt or Herbamare (reduced salt vegetable seasoning)
Handful of finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
10 large taco shells or tortillas
Method
Toss the fish pieces in the garlic and lemon zest and ½ the oil.
Toss the vegetables with the remaining oil and put into a nonstick large pan
Sprinkle on the salt and sauté for 5mins until just wilted. (Don’t overcook as this is what releases the sulphur smell that people associate with cabbage if you can remember Grandma’s boiled cabbage.) Remove from pan & set aside
Saute fish pieces for 2-3 mins.
Add back vegetables over top of fish cover pan and cook for further 5 mins or until fish is just cooked through.
In the meantime heat taco shells in oven as instructed or steam tortillas in a steamer basket if preferred.
Add lemon juice and coriander to fish & vegetable mixture.
I assemble the tacos at the table so they don’t go soggy.
It’s fun, quick and tasty and children enjoy them too.
To make them a little more indulgent the tacos can be served with tomato salsa and/or guacomale.
Variations
If vegetarian use tofu instead of fish.
Try other varieties such as salmon or tuna instead of white fish.
Vary the vegetables to make own combination, particularly if you have children that only eat certain vegetables, a good option could be carrot, zucchini and corn niblets. Add some chilli if desired to spice up the dish.
Guacomale
1 ripe avocado
½ sml Spanish (red) onion finely chopped
¼ green capsicum finely chopped
few drops of Tabasco sauce to taste
lemon juice to taste
2 tspns of coriander leaves finely chopped
Method
Mash avocado in a bowl with a fork
Mix through onion and capsicum with avocado
Add Tabasco and lemon juice to suit your palate
Lastly, mix through the coriander leaves keeping some aside to garnish dip.