Growing up, stuffed cabbage was a dish that frequently made an appearance at our dinner table. While I absolutely loved the filling part, I was never a fan of the cabbage that it was wrapped in. In fact, I used to just pick out the filling and leave the cabbage for my parents to eat!
Because of this experience with cabbage, I just assumed that I hated cabbage, so I always avoided it. Turns out that I was completely wrong. When I gave it another chance a few years later, I realized that cabbage is absolutely delicious! Now, I’m beating myself up for avoiding cabbage for so many years, but no worries, I’m making up for it by incorporating cabbage into my meals whenever possible!
One day, I was making a dish with red cabbage, and I ended up only using half of it. I didn’t want the other half to go to waste, and I didn’t really know what to do with it, so I decided to just throw it in a pot with some other ingredients and sauté it down a bit. When my parents came home from work and we sat down to eat, they were amazed by how great the cabbage tasted. In fact, they couldn’t get enough of it! But then again, neither could I. It was just too good that we couldn’t stop eating it!
Since that day, this sautéed cabbage dish has become a regular at our table, making an appearance at least every other week (if not every week). It makes a delicious side dish, and we love eating it with some fish and other vegetables.
After making this a few times with red cabbage, I thought to myself…”how would it taste if I used a green cabbage?” Naturally, I couldn’t let this go un-answered.. I had to find out for myself!
The verdict? Still very delicious! However, my family and I all agreed that it had a bit more flavor when it was made with red cabbage, despite the fact that it was the exact same recipe. I guess red cabbage just has a bit more sweetness to it, and that made all the difference in this dish. Plus, the red cabbage gives it so much more color, and is it just me, or do meals taste better when they look pretty?!
- 1 head red cabbage (or green cabbage), finely shredded
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 1 apple, diced*
- 1 cup water
- 3 TBSP apple cider vinegar
- 1 TBSP honey or sugar
- ½ tsp. each: salt and black pepper
- Cut the cabbage in quarters, remove the white core, and then chop into very fine shreds.
- Dice the onion and the apple.
- Heat ~1 olive TBSP oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for about 4-5 minutes, or until clear. Add the apples and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the cabbage in small amounts as a time, stirring frequently. Once all the cabbage has been added, add the water, cover with a lid, and let cook for about 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, remove the lid, add the apple cider vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper, and stir well. Cover with a lid and cook for another 25-30 minutes, or until cabbage is tender. Make sure you stir frequently and add additional water or oil if it seems to be sticking to the bottom.
