Grilled Cabbage with White Bean Puree

Name: Grilled Cabbage with White Bean Puree
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 2 min 30 s
Total time: 22 min 30 s
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 whole green cabbage, cut into six wedges; 1/2 cup Soom Organic Tahini; 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil; 2 tbsp Reida Kansas Wildflower Honey; 1 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Rub; 1 cup vegetable stock; Feta cheese, crumbled; 4 cups Rancho Gordo Marcella Cannellini Beans, simmered in water until tender; 1 cup Tahini; 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil; 2 cups yellow onion, diced; 6 cloves Garlic, crushed, peeled; 3 sprigs Thyme; 1 red bell pepper; 2 tbsp lemon juice; Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Rub

Jun 13, 2024 • Tom Jackson

Veg out with our Grilled Cabbage with White Bean Puree, a delightful blend of smoky, sweet, and savory flavors. This dish serves six and features green cabbage wedges brushed with a luscious mix of Soom Organic Tahini, extra virgin olive oil, Kansas Wildflower Honey, and Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Rub, then braised to tender perfection on a Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill. The cabbage is complemented by a creamy white bean puree made from Rancho Gordo Marcella Cannellini Beans, tahini, EVOO, yellow onions, garlic, thyme, and a touch of lemon juice, seasoned with the brisket rub for added depth. A charred red bell pepper adds a hint of smokiness, while crumbled feta cheese provides a tangy finish. This recipe combines rustic grilling with refined flavors, making it a standout side or a satisfying vegetarian main course.

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE

Two-phase cabbage cook — braise first, char second: Braising the cabbage wedges covered in tahini-honey-olive oil brine for 15 minutes makes them tender all the way through before they ever hit the hot GrillGrates. The final 500°F char then creates the caramelized, slightly crispy exterior without the risk of a raw center that straight high-heat grilling would produce.
The white bean puree is genuinely restaurant-quality: Sautéing the aromatics before blending, using the reserved bean braise liquid to adjust consistency, and seasoning with Lone Star Brisket Rub produces a puree that's richer and more complex than anything made from canned beans with a quick blitz.
Charred bell pepper in the puree is the flavor sleeper: Blackening the pepper on the GrillGrates and steaming off the skin adds a subtle, sweet smokiness to the bean puree that reads as depth rather than an identifiable "roasted pepper" flavor — most diners won't know it's there, but they'll notice if it's missing.
Vegetarian but genuinely satisfying as a main course: Between the white bean puree, tahini, olive oil, and feta, this dish has the fat, protein, and complexity to work as a standalone meal rather than just a side — a rare quality in a grilled vegetable recipe.

Grilled Cabbage with White Bean Puree

Tom Jackson

Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users

Servings

6

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

2.5 minutes

Calories

883

Welcome to a culinary adventure that transforms humble ingredients into a gourmet experience with our Grilled Cabbage with White Bean Purée. This dish is a celebration of texture and flavor, where the smoky char of grilled cabbage wedges meets the creamy richness of a meticulously crafted white bean purée. The cabbage, basted in a luxurious blend of Soom Organic Tahini, extra virgin olive oil, Kansas Wildflower Honey, and Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Rub, is braised in vegetable stock and grilled to tender perfection on a Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill. Complementing this are Rancho Gordo Marcella Cannellini Beans, simmered until tender and blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and a medley of aromatics including thyme, garlic, and charred red bell pepper. Finished with a sprinkle of crumbled feta cheese, this dish not only highlights the robust flavors and textures of its components but also showcases the art of combining simple ingredients to create a sophisticated and unforgettable meal.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 whole green cabbage, cut into six wedges
1/2 cup Soom Organic Tahini
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp Reida Kansas Wildflower Honey
1 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Rub
1 cup vegetable stock
Feta cheese, crumbled

White bean puree: 10 servings

4 cups Rancho Gordo Marcella Cannellini Beans, simmered in water until tender
1 cup Tahini
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups yellow onion, diced
6 cloves Garlic, crushed, peeled
3 sprigs Thyme
1 red bell pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Rub

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Directions

Rinse the beans, then place in a stock pot and cover them with about two inches of water. Cover with a lid and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender, about 90-120 minutes, then strain.
Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to 400ºF set up for direct grilling with GrillGrate panels installed.
Divide the cabbage into 6 wedges.
Whisk together the Soom Tahini, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Kansas Wildflower Honey, and Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Rub. Massage the mixture into the cabbage wedges in a full-sized foil pan. Pour the rest over the top. Add the vegetable stock to the pan. Cover with foil. Cook on the right side of grill until nearly tender, about 15 minutes. Reserve the braising liquid.
While the cabbage is cooking, place the red bell pepper on the GrillGrates, directly over the flame. Cook to char the outside, rotating the pepper to blacken on all sides. Remove the pepper from the grill. Steam for 10 minutes inside a sealed container. Remove the stem. Split the pepper with a knife. Remove the seeds, then flip and remove the skin. Roughly chop the flesh of the pepper.
Remove the cabbage from the pan. Increase the grill temperature to 500ºF.
Season the cabbage wedges with Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Rub.
Place the cabbage wedges on the GrillGrates and grill until you have lightly charred them, but they are not yet soggy. Remove.
To make the white bean puree, heat the oil in skillet. Add the diced onion, crushed garlic and thyme. Cook until the onions are translucent and tender. Remove the thyme.
Combine all puree ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth, thinning with bean braise or vegetable stock to desired consistency. Taste and season with Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Rub and salt.
Serve the grilled cabbage over white bean puree. Garnish with feta.

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Recipe Note

Recipe FAQ

What is the Veg Out series?
Veg Out is a series of vegetable-forward recipes designed for even the most discerning palates — dishes where vegetables are the star rather than the supporting cast. Grilled Cabbage with White Bean Purée is one of the flagship recipes in that series, pairing live-fire technique with sophisticated, ingredient-driven flavors that stand up to any meat-centric dish on the table.

Can I cook the beans in advance?
Yes — and it's strongly recommended. The beans take 90–120 minutes to simmer from dry, which is the longest single step in the recipe. Cook them 1–3 days ahead, refrigerate in their cooking liquid, and strain when you're ready to make the puree. The reserved bean braise liquid is used to thin the puree to the right consistency, so save it.

Can I use canned cannellini beans instead of dried?
Yes — two 15 oz cans of drained, rinsed cannellini beans is a reasonable substitute for 4 cups of cooked beans. The puree won't have as much depth as one made from dried beans simmered from scratch, since the bean braise liquid is also incorporated into the puree. Substitute vegetable stock for thinning if using canned beans.

Why does the cabbage cook at two different temperatures?
The two-phase cook is intentional. The first phase (400°F, covered in foil with vegetable stock) braises the cabbage to tenderness without charring it. The second phase (500°F, uncovered on GrillGrates) builds the char and caramelization on the already-tender cabbage without risking a raw center. Trying to achieve both tenderness and char at a single temperature produces either undercooked cabbage with good char, or soggy cabbage with no structure.

Can I substitute a different cheese for feta?
Yes — a mild fresh chèvre (goat cheese) is the closest substitute and works well with the tahini and bean flavors. Ricotta salata is another option for a slightly drier, saltier finish. Avoid aged hard cheeses here — the dish needs the creaminess and tang of a fresh cheese to balance the smoky cabbage and rich puree.

Can I make this indoors?
4 out of 5 — Great in the kitchen, better on the grill. The bean simmer, puree, and aromatics are entirely stovetop. The bell pepper can be charred directly over a gas burner flame or under a high broiler. The cabbage braise works in a covered Dutch oven at 400°F in the oven. What you lose is the live-fire char on the cabbage from the 500°F GrillGrate step — a grill pan over very high heat gets close, but won't produce the same depth of caramelization.

Recipe Highlights

Massage the basting mixture into the cabbage before adding liquid: Working the tahini-honey-oil-rub mixture directly into the cabbage wedges before pouring the rest over the top and adding the vegetable stock ensures the baste penetrates between the outer leaves rather than just coating the surface. This is what delivers flavor all the way into the center of each wedge during the braise.
Reserve the braising liquid before discarding: The liquid left in the foil pan after braising the cabbage contains concentrated tahini, honey, and seasoning. Step 10 specifically calls for using this (or vegetable stock) to thin the white bean puree — it's the liquid that ties the two components of the dish together and shouldn't be poured out.
Remove the thyme sprigs before blending the puree: The thyme is added as whole sprigs to the aromatics for flavoring during the sauté, not as a textural ingredient. Leaving them in the blender produces stringy, fibrous bits in an otherwise smooth puree. Pull them before everything goes into the blender.
Serve immediately after charring the cabbage: The charred cabbage holds its texture and temperature best right off the grill. Plating the warm cabbage over the puree and finishing with cold feta crumbles creates a hot-warm-cool temperature contrast that is a deliberate part of the dish's appeal — don't let the cabbage sit and cool before plating.