Elevating Cabbage on the Menu

I always associated cabbage with poverty. You know, a thin gruel of cabbage cooked in water. I’ve never made corned beef and cabbage. I don’t really like coleslaw. So I’m sure I’ve never bought a cabbage, any more than I had ever bought okra or beets.

In last week's CSA crate was a light green baby head of cabbage, not one of those rubbery soccer ball size things you see in the grocery store. It had languished in my produce drawer until yesterday when I determined to figure out what to do with it.

Instead of Googling for cabbage recipes, I decided to just put some things together that seemed like they might belong together. I wanted a faint taste of fennel and a little kick to my young cabbage.

Here’s an approximation of the recipe:

Lemon-infused olive oil
½ large red onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 strip of lean bacon, cut into small pieces (inspired by Lemmonex)
Fennel seeds
Small cabbage, coarsely chopped/shredded
Fennel dill, clipped into small pieces
Chicken broth
Borsari salt (or any kind of salt)
Red pepper flakes
Splash of good Balsamic vinegar

In a large anodized pan, saute the onion and garlic in a small amount of olive oil over medium high heat for several minutes. Move the onion and garlic to the side. Put the bacon and some fennel seeds in the center. When the bacon is mostly cooked, add the cabbage. Stir until it is wilted. Add clipped dill, a small amount of chicken broth, and seasoning. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes or until cabbage is thoroughly cooked. Add Balsamic vinegar and stir until all ingredients are completely mixed. Serve hot or cold.


We had a simple meal of grilled salmon steaks, the cooked cabbage, and baked sweet potatoes. The cabbage was the best part of the meal. In fact in was outrageously good. Never again will I belittle these little green heads of goodness. I’m hoping for another cabbage in this week’s CSA crate.