Cabbagey things

[primsong]

We're trying to incorporate more veggies again here, having slowly drifted off into meat-and-starch land for a time and doing a course correction in tandem with our annual church fast.  Today's dinner is cabbage wedges roasted with sweet onion slices and a drizzle of olive oil - which made me wonder, cabbage being such a versatile thing, what are some of your favorite ways to put a bit of cabbage in your life? 

Comments

[kerravonsen]

My favourite way to put cabbage in my life was to let my mother cook it. I don't know if I could manage to reproduce her delicious cabbage, but it was very simple: a tablespoon of butter, a few tablespoons of water, and a pot with a lid that sealed tight. It was basically steamed, I suppose.

My second-favourite way to put cabbage in my life is as the major part of a stir-fry. My minimal-effort stir-fry consists of:

* one packet of coleslaw mix (pre-cut cabbage with a few other veggies like carrot or celery)
* one onion
* one packet of pre-chopped mushrooms (optional)
* 500g stir-fryable meat (e.g beef stir-fry strips or lamb mince or kangaroo mince or tinned tuna)
* 1 teaspoon of pre-crushed garlic (from a jar in the fridge)
* a splash of olive oil
* a few splashes of soy sauce
* one packet of pre-cooked brown rice

1. Chop the onion. Cook with olive oil in pan (not completely, it will cook more later)
2. Add the meat and the garlic. Brown the meat. If using stir-fry strips, make sure they are still red in the middle (if they overcook they are tough). If using tinned tuna, obviously one doesn't need to brown it.
3. Add the coleslaw mix. Add the mushrooms (if any). Lower the heat and put on a lid; let it steam for a bit.
4. Add the brown rice and splash soy sauce over it. Turn up the heat and stir (well, flip over with spatula) so that it doesn't burn.

Serve and eat from huge bowls with chopsticks. 8-)

Yes, it does have meat and starch in it, but it is mostly veggies.

[primsong]

I'd forgotten about how handy the shredded cabbage is for 'instant' cooking, this is great for the fast/easy approach - kangaroo, lol.... this may be coming right up in this house!

[kerravonsen]

When I was child, kangaroo was considered pet food. Then somebody decided that it was a gourmet meat, which one could only eat in restaurants which catered to the tourist crowd. Then it was sporadically available in supermarkets. Then a bit more reliably.

Kangaroo is a very lean meat, one reason why I like kangaroo mince. For some unfathomable reason, kangaroo steak is always badly (unevenly) cut, which means it's impossible to cook consistently. So I stick with the mince.

It may be my imagination, but the taste has gotten less "gamey" since the early days, too. I mean, it's a red meat, so it tastes like a red meat, just a little different from beef or lamb.

[primsong]

You may find it amusing that I find this fascinating - I don't know why it never occurred to me that kangaroos are edible, but it seems like such a logical thing once it's pointed out; large, meaty animal who is handily nearby and all that. And the evolution of 'low' meat to 'gourmet' is funny - hey, anything you can feed to tourists for a profit is fair game!

We haven't any kangaroos around here of course, though I have seen a few oddball edible critters go by like rattlesnake and squirrel. :-)

[kerravonsen]

I think part of the evolution was affected by availability; food regulations would be stricter for human-food than pet-food, I expect. I mean, you'd never be allowed to sell random wild 'roo; it would have to be farmed 'roo, to ensure lack of disease and parasites etc. Mind you, I have no idea how one would farm kangaroos, considering that they'd jump over normal-sized fences without blinking...

Okay, I am COMPLETELY WRONG. According to Wikipedia all most 'roo meat is wild. Okay. That's fine with me. Makes more sense.

[senmut]

Not a cabbage fan, but red cabbage makes a great dip. Core one out (leaving enough of the head to serve as a bowl), shred in a processor with cream cheese or sour cream, add seasonings of choice (often dill, garlic, onion powder for me), then dump back in the head and serve with chips of choice.

[primsong]

I really like this idea - I may press it into service for our next potluck in fact, as it would be easy and colorful too - Thanks!

[archersangel]

i only like cabbage as cole slaw.

[elij_0650]

My favourite is Okinomiyaki, a Japanese dish which accepts a range of vegetables and meat if you are so inclined but is based around the humble cabbage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od2YWgQmeo4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjmqBvRQ8tI

[primsong]

Oh wow - how could I have forgotten about this? My daughter went on a Japanese food kick and made this for us a couple times last year and it was awesome. Thanks! Dang, now I want some for dinner tomorrow.