Lynn Krahn, Michigan State University Extension -
Cabbage is a versatile vegetable, readily available year-round and perfect for St. Patrick’s Day dinner.
Versatile and readily available, cabbage is commonly eaten raw and shredded in cole-slaw. Sometimes it is added to sandwiches and tossed salads. Cabbage is often less expensive per-pound than lettuce, so add some shredded cabbage to your tossed salads to reduce the cost. Try adding various chopped or shredded vegetables or fruit with cabbage to cole-slaw such as apples, pineapple, celery or carrots. Cabbage is a favorite vegetable to many people and can be cooked in stir-fry, boiled dinner, simmered with meats and added to homemade soups.
Many people look forward to corned beef, cabbage and potatoes for St. Patrick’s Day dinner. You can bake all three together in your oven or in a crock-pot for an easy meal. Others like to make cabbage rolls by steaming or boiling whole leaves of cabbage, rolling meat and vegetable mixtures inside the leaves, and then baking them in the oven. Other good ways of eating cabbage include shredding and adding to pasta sauces, skillet dinners and with just about anything that you roll in a tortilla.
The right seasonings can also make cabbage interesting to eat. Bring out the flavor of cabbage in cold salads with caraway seed, celery seed, mint or tarragon. Other suggested seasonings for cooked or raw cabbage include dill, mustard seed, nutmeg, rosemary or savory. For a sweeter flavor, sauté three cups of cabbage and one cup of onion in a few tablespoons of water. Then add two diced apples, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and two tablespoons of lemon juice. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes.
Cabbage is a good source of vitamin A and is high in vitamin C. Cabbage is also fat free, very low sodium, cholesterol free and low-calorie.
Choose green cabbage that has a solid, heavy head. Refrigerate green cabbage up to a few weeks if it is wrapped and kept in your crisper drawer. Avoid cabbage with yellowed outer leaves or holes in the leaves. Cabbage can be frozen if it is first blanched for 1.5 minutes. The frozen cabbage can then be cooked with other vegetables or added into recipes. For more healthy recipes and food tips visit the Michigan State University Extension website.
