As a culture, I think we need to revisit cabbage. For some reason, cabbage is no longer very popular, but it is very well adapted to New York, and is a great, versatile vegetable. When it is too hot to want to cook, cole slaw (“cole” is generic term for the cabbage family). Want a light veggie? Steam or saute some sliced cabbage, put a pat of butter on and/or a dash of lemon, and you have it. Cabbage/tomato soup is great in the fall, and is a common weight-loss recipe. Then there are cabbage rolls, for which you need certain cabbage varieties with soft leaves (we grow a couple that will work), and kraut, which works best with specific, drier varieties.
We grow Chinese/Napa cabbage, the hierloom small summer Early Jersey Wakefield, the small Gonzales for summer, a couple varieties of red cabbage in the fall, several savoy cabbages in the fall, and kraut and storage cabbages for fall/winter.
The whole Napa cabbage can be used in soups, stir fries, or my favorite: a slaw with ramen or rice noodles. You can eat on it all week if you hold the noodles back and put only a serving’s worth just before eating. You can use rice noodles and not have to deal with Ramen seasonings packs. There are lots of variations on this recipe out there. Just search for cabbage ramen salad or bok choy ramen noodle salad.
I like a sweet and sour cole slaw better than the mayo type we grew up with. So simple – shredded cabbage, carrots, some onion (red is great if available), maybe cucumber. Mix together equal parts sugar and olive oil, some salt, and maybe half again as much cider vinegar as sugar. Pour over the veggies. Good made a day ahead so the flavors meld.
Savoy cabbage is wonderful after a few good hard frosts in the fall. If you had it before it was frosted, give it another chance. The leaves are very tender.
Let’s restore cabbage to it’s rightful place on our tables.
