Cabbage salad vs. coleslaw, red cabbage, savoy cabbage
The first frosts mean sweet and delicious local cabbage is here. This wonderful and incredibly versatile vegetable is often overlooked as pedestrian and uninteresting, but that's only the observer's fault.
For a moment, let's ignore cabbage's wonderful health properties (such as the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthinI) that help you fight macular degeneration, or others (like the phytochemical sulforaphane) that fight the nasty free radicals that damage healthy cells and lead to all sorts of sickness and diseases like cancer. Let's just look at the culinary side of this humble vegetable; after all, who wants to think of their coleslaw as medicine?
You say "cabbage salad", I say "coleslaw"
Someone told me that “coleslaw” is an American term for what Canadians call “cabbage salad”, but I really doubt it. If it is true, though, forgive this immigrant from New England for slipping into the southern vernacular.
Speaking of coleslaw, which is just about universally loved, did you ever try making it with red cabbage? It's chock-full of fibre, vitamins C, K and B6, and other good stuff such as folate, potassium and manganese. Try my Red Cabbage Salad which, like many red cabbage recipes, includes apples.
Fruit and cabbage can go together in other combinations; I've even concocted a tropical coleslaw with pineapple to great effect: Island Coleslaw.
Red cabbage
Back to red cabbage: as a side for roast pork, goose, duck or beef; little can beat it, braised with wine and/or vinegar and flavoured with a little apple and onion.
You can use finely slivered red cabbage to perk up green lettuce salads or add colour to stir-fries. My Swiss mother called it “blue cabbage”, and it can sometimes turn quite blue with cooking, but I think it would be better served with “purple”. Or we could just call it "royal cabbage”. Then it could compete with another favourite, the savoy cabbage, a royal name for sure.
Savoy cabbage
I have a German neighbour who just loves “savoury [sic.] cabbage” and I do too. Not only are the wrinkled leaves of savoy cabbage beautiful to look at, they are wonderfully flavoured, as well.
Leaves so pretty deserve to be stuffed. A remarkably simple and tasty Italian inspired version in Stuffed Savoy Cabbage, with mashed potatoes and cheese, is a personal favourite. You can always use savoy cabbage instead of white or green cabbage for your favourite cabbage rolls.
Click to continue...
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Someone told me that “coleslaw” is an American term for what Canadians call “cabbage salad”, but I really doubt it. If it is true, though, forgive this immigrant from New England for slipping into the southern vernacular.
Speaking of coleslaw, which is just about universally loved, did you ever try making it with red cabbage? It's chock-full of fibre, vitamins C, K and B6, and other good stuff such as folate, potassium and manganese. Try my Red Cabbage Salad which, like many red cabbage recipes, includes apples.
Fruit and cabbage can go together in other combinations; I've even concocted a tropical coleslaw with pineapple to great effect: Island Coleslaw.
Red cabbage
Back to red cabbage: as a side for roast pork, goose, duck or beef; little can beat it, braised with wine and/or vinegar and flavoured with a little apple and onion.
You can use finely slivered red cabbage to perk up green lettuce salads or add colour to stir-fries. My Swiss mother called it “blue cabbage”, and it can sometimes turn quite blue with cooking, but I think it would be better served with “purple”. Or we could just call it "royal cabbage”. Then it could compete with another favourite, the savoy cabbage, a royal name for sure.
Savoy cabbage
I have a German neighbour who just loves “savoury [sic.] cabbage” and I do too. Not only are the wrinkled leaves of savoy cabbage beautiful to look at, they are wonderfully flavoured, as well.
Leaves so pretty deserve to be stuffed. A remarkably simple and tasty Italian inspired version in Stuffed Savoy Cabbage, with mashed potatoes and cheese, is a personal favourite. You can always use savoy cabbage instead of white or green cabbage for your favourite cabbage rolls.
Click to continue...
Page 1 of 2
