So today’s card is a discussion on why I think the King of Wands likes spicy food. He’s the king of the fire suit for one but he’s also the passionate man who would be willing to wing it when he had to. Not the steady King of Pentacles or the dreamy King of Cups or even the logical King of Swords.
No, this is our guy who is into innovation and isn’t upset when things don’t go as planned. And that’s pretty much what happened with my dinner the other night.
Let me set the stage. I saw this recipe on Facebook that sounded divine. It had everything I liked in it–meat, tomatoes and cabbage. As I’ve pointed out before, I’ve got enough German in me to consider cabbage one of the four food groups. In fact, my Queen of Swords recipe is my mother’s cabbage Au Gratin.
So I read the recipe, write down what I need. I go to the grocery store. The HEB I go to is GINORMOUS, y’all. As in freaking huge. And my back was already hurting when I go there.
So now you have some clues as to what happens next. I get everything I need then realize I didn’t get the tomato sauce that was in the orginal recipe. I decide that I probably had tomato sauce. Yes, I firmly nodded in the aisle. I was certain to have sauce.
Cut to my kitchen where I basically UNLOAD an entire cabinet to discover I have tomato paste but no sauce. My stepson valiantly restocked and looked again. No sauce. SAD FACE?
NO! Not for the intrepid cook that I am. Most recipes end up being bones that I build on anyway. So I winged it. Along the way I also added some Siracha, more garlic, a completely different kind of tomato and extra water.
Oh, I also switched up the meat to a slightly healthier version that used half beef and half turkey. It turned out delicious! I had plenty to put away for leftovers too.
So here is my version of this Facebook recipe. I’ve renamed it in honor of the King of Wands who would have been right there beside me–improvising.
The King of Swords Spicy Jumbled Unstuffed Cabbage Stuff
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound lean ground turkey
2 T oil (I used a pepper flavored olive oil)
1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T siracha sauce
1 small cabbage, chopped
3 cans (10.5 oz) tomatoes with green chiles
1 can (8 ounces) tomato paste
2.5 cans water (tomato cans)
1 T ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
Preparation:
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and turkey and onion and cook, stirring, until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute. Stir in the siracha and cook one more minute
Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.
Yield: Serves 6 to 8.
I hope you try this out. If you aren’t a spicy fan, you can leave out the siracha, cut back on the garlic and use 2 14.5 cans of tomatoes. 😀
Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!
King of Swords, Mary El Tarot, Schiffer Books
Food pic by Arwen. 😀