Norwitz Notions

I’ve filed this recipe under Thanksgiving because it’s now my standard offering for that holiday. I bring it every year to the Thanksgiving Potluck we go to and it’s a great dish for other events as well. To people eating turkey or other meat, it is a nice side dish. But for a vegetarian, it’s a good way to get some significant amounts of protein without filling up on starch (and it is, in fact, lowcarb).

This recipe is a winner. It disappears fast and gets raves (even though few of our friends are vegetarians).

I originally made it with red bell pepper and I love it that way, but I can’t justify buying bell peppers when they’re not in season. They’re very expensive, imported from far away, usually not organic, and rarely any good. So I use red cabbage as a substitute. It works well and provides a nice color contrast.

Recipe:

2 bags frozen shelled edamame (32 oz)
3 red bell peppers or 1/2 large red cabbage
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar (estimate)
3 Tablespoons very good extra virgin olive oil (estimate)
Handful of fresh herbs
Salt and pepper

Boil the edamame according to directions, drain.

While still hot, toss in bowl with olive oil, then vinegar, salt and pepper

Peppers: Roast washed peppers whole in 350*F oven for about an hour, turning several times. When peppers are cool enough to handle, remove seeds and stem and cut into strips, about 1″ long, add to edamame, toss.

Cabbage: Cut cabbage in half, remove core, and slice in to long thin strips, then cut the strips in half so they are 1-3″ long. Coat with a bit of olive oil and roast in 350*F oven until very dehydrated but not brown. Add to edamame, toss.

Cool edamame on counter then add finely chopped herbs, I used parsley, sage, lemon thyme, and oregano.

Put in fridge, serve chilled.

Nutritional Information:

The edamame alone is:
120 grams protein
96 grams total carbs
60 grams fiber
36 grams usable carbs

The rest of the ingredients will add basically no protein and a small number of carbs (maybe 10 at most). This recipe makes enough to serve a dozen people at a potluck. If we take that to mean there are 12 servings total, each serving has 10 grams of protein and 3-4 grams of usable carbs.

An earlier version of this recipe with red peppers was posted to my lowcarb website December 1, 2003. A version of the recipe with red cabbage was posted January 24, 2004.