Ham and Cabbage Potato Gratin

If I'm home during the day, I'm apt to watch The View. While I think there's a lot of nonsense that goes on during the show, I watch because I'm a huge fan of Chefs Michael Symon and Mario Batali. During one of last week's show, Michael Symon put together a simple gratin that he deemed a side dish, but that I thought would make an excellent one dish dinner. Of course it would have to be lightened up, but I didn't think that would be a problem. Since I had put up some vacuum-packed bags of spiral ham, I decided to make the dish for Sunday dinner. Here is my version of the dish:

Serves 4 (at 13 WW SP's per serving)
12 oz spiral ham, small dice
1 1/2 lbs russet potatoes, sliced very thinly on a mandolin
1 small green cabbage, cored and sliced in 1/4 inch slices
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs light butter
1 cup lowfat half and half
4 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1 tsp paprika
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a deep skillet or pot. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds, stirring. Add ham and cabbage and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Drain excess liquid.

Place sliced potatoes (do NOT soak in water) into the half and half. Stir in the paprika and about 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray an 8 X 10 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Layer half the potato mixture followed by all of the cabbage and ham mixture. Top with the remaining half of the potato mixture. Sprinkle on the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.

Cover tightly with foil and bake covered for 45 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and bake an additional 20-25 minutes, until the top is nicely browned, Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
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TASTE NOTES
I ran this recipe through the Weight Watchers' recipe builder. One-fourth of the casserole, a very generous serving, was 13 points. It was well worth it. While I've no doubt that additional butter and heavy cream would be delicious, they weren't missed at all. Replacing Chef Symon's deli ham with my spiral ham definitely elevated this dish. As we were eating, I mused aloud that this would be an excellent St. Patrick's Day dish if I just substituted corned beef for the ham and perhaps added some carrots. I'll let you know.