Did You Know Cabbage Was Sexy?
Our modern palate has no idea of how special cabbage has been through the ages! Its mild flavor and crisp texture is wonderfully adaptable, and it’s incredibly healthy in unique ways.
Cabbage is unusually rich in many valuable nutrients, notably vitamin C, sulforaphane, I3C (Indole-3-carbinol), and Vitamin K.
Vitamin C is valued for it’s immune-supporting and anti-oxidant properties.
Sulforaphane is a sulfur-rich compound found in cruciferous vegetables like cabbage. It becomes activated when the plant is damaged (cut, chopped or chewed), and may be most available when the vegetable is very lightly cooked (see the perfect recipe below!)
Sulfur is so essential that it could be a blog all to itself . Known as the ‘beauty mineral’, sulphur promotes healing throughout the body in the skin (stretch marks, scars, acne, liver spots), digestion, heart health, while boosting immunity and anti-cancer actions.
I3C’s anti-aging effects are a result of scavenging free radicals thereby reducing oxidative stress in the body. It helps the body to release ‘false estrogens, and appears to help inhibit of the development of cancers of the stomach, colon, liver, lung, breast, uterus, and prostate.
Vitamin K is essential for normal blood clotting, and ensures calcium is properly directly to the bones and teeth where it is needed for strength and mineralization. It also helps prevent harmful calcification in soft tissues like blood vessels and kidneys.
Just two and a half ounces (75 grams) of cooked cabbage has over 81 mcg vitamin K, providing nearly all of the adult RDA of 90-12 mcg.
🍲 Here’s one of my favorite ways to eat cabbage.
I‘m always grateful for recipes that taste special but that don’t involve a special shopping trip; except for maybe the cabbage, most of these ingredients are probably in your pantry. This dish is a delight in every season - warming in cool weather, cooling in hot weather, a little exotic when I’m craving carry-out, and healthy when we’re trying to stay on track.
Recipe: Beth’s Yummy Thai Cabbage with Peanut Sauce (or without peanuts)
The ingredients and the process are both super-simple. I’m including nuanced directions to jumpstart your confidence if you’re a newbie in the kitchen. Have some fun with cutting up the vegetables, the shape you pick has an under-appreciated effect on the appeal and even taste of your dish.
Pan ingredients to cook:
1# green head cabbage, which is usually about a half of a dense head of cabbage; cut into thin, rectangular strips (not shredding, which would make the dish wet and gloppy.)
2-3 large carrots, cut into matchsticks.
1-2 TB toasted sesame oil
Cooking:
Start the sesame oil heating in a large, heavy skillet or wok. (NOT Teflon!)
Add the carrots, stirring a little so all sides are exposed to heat.
When they are just warmed through, add all the cabbage.
I use a lid at this point to accelerate the cooking, removing after a few minutes to stir and distribute the moisture and heat.
This is now a sauté, so stir occasionally. Remove pan from heat when the cabbage is warmed through, starting to droop, slightly translucent and still bright in color. In other words, cooked lightly.
While cabbage is cooking, make the sauce:
1/3 cup natural peanut butter, well stirred (100% peanuts, not Jiffy)
1 tsp salt
2 TB apple cider vinegar (ACV)
1 TB honey
1 TB tamari, soy sauce, or coconut aminos
If needed, add hot water (a tsp at a time) to thin the nut butter if it’s too dry.
Use a fork to stir. It’s stiff at first, and then you want it to become a thin paste.
Taste it. It’s ok if its salty and pungent, as it must flavor all the veggies. But even though it’s a little rich at this stage, you should generally like the flavor right now. THIS is where you adjust the flavors to appeal to your family, such as more sweet or sour or spicy. I’m usually adding 1-2 more dashes of the ACV.
Assemble:
Add the wet sauce to the sautéed cabbage, gently combining with a silicon spatula or wooden spoon. (Metal utensils will bruise the cabbage.)
Spoon into your serving bowl.
Garnish with scallions (green onions) cut at a sharp angle.
Serve immediately warm, or later chilled.
Variations:
Add more honey and/or ACV: 1-2 TB will ramp up the sweet-and-sour quality.
Nut butter issues: Change or eliminate for all the reasons. Could use almond, cashew, sun butter, tahini, or NONE, which would leave you with a sweet-and-sour type dish, also delicious.
Change main flavor: Especially if you opt out of the nut butter(s): Add chopped cilantro and/or fresh mint before serving.
Flavor: Add shredded ginger (I did in the batch above) or chopped garlic in to cook with the carrots.
Spice: Add 1-2 tsp or to taste of red pepper flakes. Or shot of tabasco.
Crunch: Use crunchy peanut butter. Top with toasted cashews
Make your own iwth ‘raw’ cashews baked at 300F for about 20 minutes or until light brown and toasty.
Vegetables: This recipe easily adapts to additional vegetables added to the pan, such as sliced water chestnuts, shredded kale, wedges of sweet onion, or strips of Napa cabbage. Purple cabbage will bring the same health benefits, but fades in color as it cooks to a less appealing gray.
Food is made more appetizing when served in appealing ways.
Choose a simple serving dish or bowl.
Use a damp cloth (or paper towel) to wipe the inside edge clear of splatters.
Top with tasty and contrasting garnish (color/shape) to enhance visual appeal.
In the finished dish above, I used scallions (green onions) cut on an angle, and toasted whole cashews to amplify the nutty flavor and lend crunch to the cooked cabbage.
🍴Enjoy!