thoughtful consumption

Cabbage is a wonderful thing. Once you meet a local cabbage, you look at cabbage completely differently. It’s a vegetable with great flavor and texture. And a cabbage is a good friend when you find it weeks later in the back of the crisper. Peel off a layer or two, and you’ve still got a lovely head of cabbage. That’s what happened to me last year. Chris and I enjoyed every bit of that head of green cabbage.

Green cabbage

Green cabbage has a tightly-wrapped, round head and can last a long time in the fridge. Here’s an extraordinarily large example of green cabbage from last year in the center of this pic.

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And here are the two best recipes we’ve found for green cabbage.

Cabbage For Those Who Dislike Cabbage

This is a fast, simple recipe that Chris and I ate almost every day for a week or so last winter. Note that this recipe makes 6-8 servings. Be ready to scale it down because it’s not nearly as good leftover. Cut off and shred as much cabbage as you need for a meal (roughly a cup and a third per serving), wrap the rest up, and put it back in the fridge. Also, it’s fast because I never cook it as long as the recipe calls for. I saute the cabbage at first for less than five minutes – basically until it gets super-green. Then I add the vinegar and cook it for less than 10 minutes on medium-low. My mom adds the vinegar, covers the pan, turns off the heat, and lets it finish “cooking” that way. The upshot is if you’re not a fan of limp cabbage, half the times for this recipe.

The last time I made cabbage for 2 I also had some green onions, so I added some of those.

cabbage, garlic, the white part of a green onion, and its green parts

blurry cabbage served with hot corned beef pita. I still remember this lunch - it was so good!

We like this recipe so much I’m afraid we no longer qualify to eat it.  D’oh!

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7-day Cole Slaw

This is my mom’s recipe, and she’s been famous for it since I was a toddler. It’s a vinegary cole slaw that will last (at least) seven days in the fridge. Although cole slaw is usually a summer dish, this cole slaw can be a nice break from all the heavy, creamy winter dishes we eat around the holidays.

The recipe calls for a sliced bell pepper, but we leave it out because we don’t like them. Also don’t miss the second to last line, “Cover and refrigerate overnight.” I’ve made that mistake at least once.

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Red cabbage

Red cabbage is a tightly-wrapped, round head of a reddish-purple color. It also lasts pretty long in the fridge.

Braised Red Cabbage

This recipe is from my mom, too.

But this one was dictated over the phone, so you get an improved transcript.

• Shred a small head of red cabbage and place in a bowl of cold water.
• Saute a sliced onion and apple in olive oil in a large pot.
• When soft and a little brown, scoop cabbage out of the bowl and into the pot. (The only water added is that which is clinging to the cabbage.)
• Cook for 10-15 minutes on medium, stirring occasionally.
• Add a ¼ cup red wine vinegar, a ¼ cup apple juice, and bacon bits. If you’re shy about vinegar, you can start with half as much.
• Cook for 20 minutes more on medium-low. Stir, taste, and adjust the seasonings as it cooks. If it needs more flavor, add more vinegar. If it gets too tart, add more apple juice or a little sugar.

When I made this last night, I didn’t have any apple juice, but I did have three apples that were on their last legs. So I added extra apples and used water instead of apple juice.

local bacon, apples, and cabbage; the onion came from somewhere else.

Turned out delicious!

cottage pie, salad, and red cabbage

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Savoy cabbage

Savoy is kind of like green cabbage, but its leaves are curly and more delicate in both flavor and texture. And it doesn’t last as long. You can stir-fry it like green cabbage but cook it for a much shorter time. In my experience, it’s best to err on the side of undercooking this cabbage.

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Napa or Chinese cabbage

Napa cabbage is a lot like Savoy cabbage but even more delicate. Consider separating the hardier stems from the leaves when stir-frying so that the stems can cook longer.

Cabbage Wraps

Both Savoy and Napa leaves are great for cabbage wraps. Steam wet leaves in the microwave or dunk in a pot of boiling water for 5-10 seconds each – just enough to get them pliable. Then add some seasoned meat or tofu mixture, wrap, and enjoy! Here’s one interesting recipe.

I’m thinking about trying these with some green cabbage leaves (no delicate cabbage at the moment in the fridge), some cilantro, and some non-vegan Gum Creek sausage.