Sauteed Green Cabbage & Scalloped Tomatoes

It's been quite cold and clear here in Portland, so the other night I wanted comfort food. While these were both new recipes for me, they're pretty easy and similar to other things I've made before. Best of all, they're quick, so it was only about 45 minutes from walking in the door that I was in front of the TV with a plate of hot food.

I really like cabbage, and this recipe is great for that extra half you sometimes have lying around, but I wanted to try something new. Orangette is great for ugly vegetables (and cookies, incidentally), so that's where I turned. (I made this while the Scalloped Tomatoes were in the oven, and the timing was just about perfect.) As I was sauteing the cabbage and then tossing it all together, I realized it's basically a warmed slaw, which I think is pretty much perfect for the cold winter months.

Sauteed Green Cabbage with Apples and Red Onion, from Orangette:

I love any and all combinations of bread and tomatoes, and this treatment is especially good in the winter when you do not have access to great tomatoes. A little time in the oven really brings out a better flavor. All I had were a bunch of grape tomatoes from Costco that needed to be used, and they worked out fine. I also added some chili flakes and just a splash of balsamic vinegar to the tomato, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper mixture before I threw it in with the bread cubes, because everything is better with chili flakes, right?

Scalloped Tomatoes, from Ina Garten:

All photos mine.