Grain-free and Gluten-free Tortillas, nature made

Okay, so if you’re not a cabbage fan, please don’t run off too quickly.  I used to pass this beautiful vegetable by without a glance because I didn’t know how versatile and delicious it is.  Now that my choices are much more limited, I have been forced to eat more veggies and be more creative with them.

…The result – I feel better than I ever had in my life, but that’s another story!

I love the almond flour tortillas that I make for tacos, but they are quite a bit of work, especially if I need to grind my own almond flour.  So lately I have been primarily using cabbage leaves as taco and burrito wraps.  I have one thing to say – easy and delicious.  Plus they are virtually allergen free except for anyone allergic to cabbage.  (not very common)

Here’s the run down:

wheat-free, gluten-free, grain-free, corn-free, egg-free, nut-free, seed-free, sugar-free, yeast-free, dairy-free, casein-free, nightshade-free – you get the idea!

Kid friendly?  My son gobbles these tacos down like there’s no tomorrow.

One thing I want to start doing on my blog is to do more step by step tutorials on how to do certain things in the kitchen.  I am a very visual person as are a lot of people and I know photos help a lot in explaining how something works.  So the last time I made these cabbage tacos, I took pictures every step of the process so that you can see first hand how to make them.

Step one:  Buy a medium to large cabbage.  Small ones will work but it will be harder to get the leaves off and you won’t get as many tacos out of the head of cabbage.

Step two:  Find the cabbage leaf that is on top of all of the rest.  Find the base of the leaf at the bottom of the cabbage.  Cut the leaf at the very bottom and only cut this one leaf.  The first one or two will fall right off of the cabbage once you cut the bottom.  See below:

Step three:  Continue to cut the leaves at the bottom of the cabbage.  After the second or third cabbage leaf, they will start to stick to the cabbage head.  The best thing I have found to do is to insert the knife under the cabbage leaf at the base of the cabbage.  (This wide knife works well for this.  If you use one with a point, it will probably pierce the leaf.)  Gently wiggle the knife under the cabbage, being careful not to tear it.  As you move it under the leaf, it will come off the head in once piece.  See below:

Step four:  continue to cut and peel the leaves away gently with the knife.  For the cabbage you saw above, I got 11 leaves out of it that were a good size for making tacos or burritos.  You can keep going, you’ll just have smaller leaves.  I usually stop when my cabbage looks something like this (below).  Then I use the rest of the cabbage for making stir fries or steamed cabbage.

Step five:  Stack the leaves gently on top of each other and then place them in a large pot with a steamer basket and about 2 inches of water.   Steam for about 12 minutes or until they are soft and no longer bright green. The photo below is of the leaves before they got steamed.

Step six:  After they have cooked, let them sit with the lid off to let the steam out of the pot.  Also remove them from the heat.  Remove a cabbage leaf with tongs (or tough fingers) and place on a towel.  This is an important step if you don’t want soggy tacos.  Dry off the leaf.

Step seven:  Transfer cabbage leaf to a plate.  Add your taco fillings.  From here, you can just fold the leaf in half and eat it like a taco.

Step eight:  If you want it more like a wrap or a burrito, first fold the thick stem part of the cabbage leaf over with your fingers.

Step nine:  Fold in the sides of the leaf over the thick part and then fold over the top part of the leaf.

Voila!  Here is your cabbage burrito!

I hope that if you are looking for some allergen-free tortillas, I have opened your eyes to a remarkable way to wrap up your burrito goodies using cabbage.

You can of course use these cabbage wraps for anything else that you need a wrap for.  The other night I was out of turkey meat and my son wanted a wrap.  So I cooked a hot dog (starch, sugar and additive free), added mustard and Barbecue sauce, and it was  a hit.

Other ideas include tuna or salad wraps and any other kind of filling you would put in a taco or wrap.  Enjoy!