Easy continues: sweet and sour cabbage

As we've discussed, ragazzi, we are at that time of year where even those of us who ignored the "GET MAXIMUM FLAVOR WITH MINIMUM EFFORT!'   banners, are looking.  Much as we try,  we cannot escape the rhythm of this season, which gets faster and faster and faster.  And as all of us know, as we move, faster, and faster, we eat worse and worse.    The stuff that's GOOD for us, takes time.  And right now.... Well, you know.

Annalena is trying to rescue us from this.  Yesterday's soup was one suggestion.  Today, we turn to a neglected vegetable:  cabbage.  Annalena can hear the voices now  "OH.  I LOVE CABBAGE."  Well, when was the last time you cooked it?  Or ate it?  And when was the last time you ate it in a form other than coleslaw?

Hmmmm.   We have some work here.  With an easy  dish.  REALLY easy.  And really good.  In Annalena's experience, cabbage and vinegar is one of those marriages like tomatoes and basil:  it seems so obvious when it's done, but someone had to try it first.  There was no manual of "what goes with what" that came down from the mountain with the Commandments, bambini.  So, let's get to work with this dish, that really does take less than twenty minutes to make, and COULD (but shouldn't), serve as your whole meal.

Here come your ingredients:  an apple.  An onion.  Some vegetable oil:  two tablespoons of it.  Half a cup of cider vinegar, and half a cup of sugar.  You can get all of that together without too much trouble, yes?  Now, the cabbage.  You should look for smaller heads, and get two of them.  You do this, rather than getting one, large head, because (i) smaller heads are easier to cut and (ii) you can mix the cabbages.  Annalena did this with red cabbage and spitzkohl, but you could mix red with savoy, spitz with savoy, or do all of one kind.  Essentially, you want about 2 pounds of cabbage in total.  Cut the heads in half, lengthwise, and then cut the big core out of it.  It's not hard to do.  Then, turn the halves, cut side down and with your knife, cut narrow ribbons of the stuff.  This will take you all of five minutes.  Put it aside and get a grater.  The three sided kind is best, and grate your apple.  If you wish to peel it, go ahead.  In Annalena's experience, if the apple is fresh and firm, you won't need to.  Tart ones are better, but if you like sweet, do sweet.  And the size of the apple doesn't really matter.  Now, peel and slice the onion into thin rings.

We are ready to go.. Put the oil in a big wide pan, and get it hot.  Add the onion and garlic at the same time.  Stir them around, and watch for the onion to just take on some golden color.  Now, add as much cabbage as the pan can hold, and the sugar and vinegar. Stir everything together.  As the cabbage heats up, it will wilt, and  you'll have room for the rest of it.  When you can get it all in the pan, put a cover on it, lower the heat, and leave it alone for five minutes.

During that time, IF you are so inclined, chop up a little smoked ham, or prosciutto , or Canadian bacon, or anything you like.  Take the cover off of the pan, taste the cabbage, and adjust for salt and pepper.  Add some caraway seeds if you like, or go "wild" and add ginger.  Finally, add your pork if you are. 

And know what?  You've got a really healthy, inexpensive side dish.  Very tasty, very filling, and very good for you.  With fish, with pork, or just with a plate of potatoes. 

Go for it ragazzi. You could make this in the time it took Annalena to type the blog. 

More cruciferous veggies coming up.  And the world's easiest cobbler.  You will thank Annalena for that one.