Jacqui Colt
Columnist
This is probably a recurring theme in this column, but have you ever noticed that a lot of food from the CSA (community supported agriculture) is just…a LOT bigger than what you get from the grocery store? I’m talking basketball-sized versus softball. Today, the enormous vegetable of the day is (drumroll please)… Cabbage! Don’t worry, friend, I am here to offer guidance for that head of cabbage that is notably bigger than a small child.
The Swiss part of me says that there is truly only one way to use cabbage—sauerkraut. This is a pretty easy introductory fermentation process if you ever have a hankering to get into fermentation. It only requires cabbage, salt and time! Could there be any better way to accompany a nice Brat? It’s the Wurst (get it? I really mean best…but get it?)! If you want to get really Swiss, add kraut to a pot of onions, boiled potatoes, white wine, salt, pepper and bacon, simmer it for a couple hours and serve with some Brats or Frankfurters.
If you’re not so into kraut, of course there’s coleslaw. It’s sweeter, easy to make, and a perfect salad-esq addition to your meal long after lettuce and salad greens have gone out of season. Just slice thin and add grated carrots, sliced onions, and add vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper!
Then, of course, there’s cooked cabbage. You can keep it simple and slice it into a skillet with some butter, salt and pepper, or you can go all out. Stuffed cabbage is a great way to use up a whole lot of cabbage leaves. Personally, I prefer to discard the limp outer leaves first, but they are technically usable. You boil the cabbage first and then stuff it with whatever your heart desires! Often the filling involves rice, meat or both, but you could throw in cheese, tomatoes, nuts, heck—anything! Dollop your filling into the middle of the cabbage leaf and wrap it up snugly. Then just line them up in a baking dish, top with tomato sauce (usually, but of course do whatever you want), and bake!
And finally, if you want to get a little crazy, you could try cabbage for dessert. An old Hungarian recipe claims that cabbage can be used as a substitute for apples in strudel! Shredded nice and thin and combined with sugar, raisins and walnuts, supposedly it tastes just like the real thing. Go a-head (get it?), and try it!