Real Mayonnaise, are you with me?

People either roll their eyes or shake their head with an involuntary "sigh" when I mention "mayonnaise". I wonder why? If you think about it, mayonnaise is merely a thick condiment made primarily from vegetable oil and egg yolk. Of course they are not healthy if taken in excess, but then, what is? According to a research published by The New England of Medicine, women who ate the most Vitamin E-rich foods showed the lowest risk for heart diseases. And if you spend a minute or two reading the food label, most mayonnaise are made of heart-healthy oil. Mine is made of soybean oil. You may also find some mayonnaise made with omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to reduce sudden death from heart attacks. Don't even think about using reduced fat or low fat mayonnaise. For one, if you are concerned with the calorie content, simply remove or reduce refined sugar and white flour in your diet. Besides, both reduced-fat and fat-free mayonnaise can break down when heated and leave an unpleasant texture. We don't want that to happen here, do we?

Smothered Cabbage Wedges

I replaced white cabbage with the extra red cabbage left from the other night. Red cabbage has a sweeter flavor than the plain white cabbage. It is also a good source of iron, vitamin C and calcium, as well as being packed with other vitamins and minerals. In general the nutrients are best enjoyed either raw or lightly cooked. However, things just got to be scarified sometimes - I'm going for the savory of baked mayonnaise cheese here....
Also, I chose to use the Thai-style sweet chili sauce because that was the only organic chili sauce I could find that doesn't cost a bomb. Most importantly, I can pronounce all the ingredients on its label.

Ingredients:
(2 serving)
1/2 medium cabbage, wedged and de-cored
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 Cup green pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon onion, chopped
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon chili sauce
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook cabbage wedges in salted boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and place in a baking dish.
2. Sautee onion and green pepper until tender. Fold in flour and stir for 1 minute. Gradually pour in milk. Keep stirring until it thickens and becomes bubbly.
3. Adjust with salt and pepper. Pour the milk mixture over cabbage wedges. Bake at 180C for 20 minutes.
   
4. In a bowl, combine mayonnaise, cheese and chili sauce. Spoon the mayonnaise dressing over the cabbage and bake 5 more minutes or until the cheese melt.

I'm pairing this dish with a Pumpkin Apple Soup.