Brilliant ideas for a whole head of red cabbage?

[IndyGirl]

Thoughts? Not really interested in pickling it or anything. I'd prefer to use it all up in a delicious salad or slaw or something, or perhaps a cooked dish of some sort. We're vegetarian BTW.

I also have tofu I could use up, as well as couscous, brown rice, quinoa, etc (but I don't HAVE to use up these items). I'm going to use this up tomorrow night, so I could also stop by the store.

Thanks in advance!!

[ndchef]

I make the German braised red cabbage, but also add grated beets. The flavors are really good together.

[kchapmans]

Cabbage rolls or holoptchi (phonetic pronounciation on that last one.) This is for holoptchi, or "lazy man's cabbage roll". Sometimes those cabbage leaves just won't come off no matter how many hot water dunkings they go through, so the holoptchi is just way easier... Chunk cabbage into 1 inch or so squares OR shred it to you liking (doesn't matter how--just whatever you prefer), set aside. Mix together 2 cups cooked rice of your choice, 1/2 onion diced (less if you don;t care that much for onions), 3 diced celery stalks, garlic (minced or powdered, to taste) salt and pepper (to taste), 1 tblspn olive oil (as you are vegetarian and are skipping the hamburger meat) in a big bowl (or pot.) Add raw chunked/shredded cabbage to rice mixture and thoroughly mix (I use my hands.) Place the cabbage/rice mixture into a lightly greased pan (so cabbage mixture doesn't burn or stick to bottom). Grab several cans of plain tomato sauce open them and pour on top of cabbage. Bake covered at 350 for about 45 minutes or until cabbage is droopy and no longer crunchy. Scoop into bowls, stir to mix the tomato sauce with cabbage mixture and eat. (I like to add a small pat of butter. My kids squirt ketchup on their. Whatever floats your boat. Green cabbage works just as well and comes out a bit sweet after baking. I add a pound of cooked hamburger or cooked ground pork to my cabbage and rice mixture, then bake. Pretty good on a cold winters day.)

[greygarious]

I like to add soaked and cooked large white lima beans, and/or cauliflower, when braising red cabbage. The white turns pink, which is very pretty on the plate.

[wonderwoman]

i live on this stuff.

shred (or chop) red cabbage and fennel. add sliced scallions and grate a good inch of ginger. throw in a handful of chopped hazelnuts.

toss with a dijon vinaigrette: 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons vinegar (cider, sherry or muscat), 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper.

[linguafood]

that sounds delightful! love the fennel in that!

[mariacarmen]

that sounds amazing. don't love hazelnuts, but overall it sounds wonderful. i can sub some other nut, i'm sure. thanks for this!

[ChrisOC]

Shred the cabbage, put it in a pot with 2 apples cut up, 3Tbs brown sugar and 3 Tbs cider vinegar add a pinch of salt and a splash of water. simmer until cabbage is tender.

[Veggo]

My danish grandmother put a little brown sugar in her cabbage. Most of the options seem to be covered here, save for bowling, soccer, and volleyball, or as a vegetarian option on a fencepost in a Conrad novel, if you really don't want to mess with cooking it.

[gilintx]

A whole head of cabbage is a pretty large amount. If you want to stretch how long you can keep it around, you could turn it into kraut. All you need is salt and maybe a little water. Chop the cabbage up, pack it into a non-reactive crock, salting lightly on each layer, then pound the heck out of it with a pestle (or anything else you have), until it starts to form liquid. If the cabbage isn't submerged under the liquid, you might need to add a touch of water. Weigh the cabbage down so that it's completely submerged, and leave it on a counter for about a week. By that point, the lactic acid will have taken over, and made you a nice tart cabbage that can go on the side of most entrees. Once it's gotten to your desired level of tartness, put it in the fridge, where it will keep for months. You can find lots of other tutorials online, but that's how I did it.

[katecm]

You can definitely do a red cabbage and quinoa salad with blue cheese, shallots, maybe apples and or fennel, some nuts and a lemon vinaigrette. Or perhaps a shaved red cabbage and shaved brussels sprout salad?

[IndyGirl]

oh, that sounds so good. Going to get fennel and apple at the store. thanks for the ideas everyone!!!

[EllenMM]

Braised red cabbage with chestnuts is yummy - here's a link to a good recipe:
http://www.vegalicious.org/2008/01/15...

[Vetter]

http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/10/19/cooking-demo-paleo-tacos-with-purple-cabbage-slaw/
http://nomnompaleo.com/post/3955306349/red-cabbage-slaw-with-tangy-carrot-ginger-dressing
http://nomnompaleo.com/post/1356598429/recipe-worlds-best-braised-green-cabbage
http://paleohacks.com/questions/1600/...

What can I say - paleo folks eat a lot of cabbage.

[linguafood]

How about German-style braised red cabbage?

Sauté some onion in lard/bacon fat/duck fat/butter if you must until translucent, add the shredded cabbage & a shredded apple, some cloves, a bit of water. Cover and cook till soft. Great with pork roasts or venison.

ETA: Salt might be good, too (forgot to mention, cuz who doesn't salt their food, save for Harters?).

[RichK]

Also add thinly sliced onions and red wine vinegar. Delicious!!!

[linguafood]

The onion is already in there. And yeah, totally forgot about the vinegar, duh.

[MikeG]

Definitely don't forget the vinegar or it'll turn an unappetizing dull blue-ish color - the acid keeps it purple. Add at the beginning of cooking as well as adjusting for the right sweet/sour taste at the end...

[linguafood]

I sometimes use a sploosh of balsamic instead of rwv, which is nice, too.

Can't wait till it gets really cold around here and that stuff's on the table. Along with some slow-roasted pork. Schmecksville.

[Harters]

Braise - as lingua's but with crushed juniper berries and a good splash of gin. No salt (as I don't use it). No cloves either - cos I don't like them.

I've been known to use cranberries instead of the apple.

Sort of thing I make a big batch of and freeze in portions.

[coll]

I do red wine, vinegar, broth, apples and onions, and red currant preserves. A few juniper berries if I have. The preserves are key.

[herby]

Coll, do you think I can make this with green cabbage? I have some red currant preserves sitting in the fridge for ever and would love to use them. Also have big chunk of green cabbage left over after making a salad that another Chowser suggested - simple and yummy.

[linguafood]

I don't think this would work with green cabbage - the flavors are just too different.

I'd sauté in butter with some onions & maybe add some cream & nutmeg, or shred as a slaw.

[herby]

Thank you! Apple could work, no? along with onion. Maybe cranberries?

[linguafood]

You can certainly try, but I find that green cabbage works much better with a savory flavor profile. It's great in slaws or stews, or a roll -- as done in the fatherland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabbage_...

For full disclosure - I'm not a sweetie, so only like a sweet flavor in few non-dessert dishes.

[herby]

I am not a "sweetie" either:) Maybe I'll make a kraut - have not had a homemade kraut in a long while. For some reason I am not a big fan of stuffed cabbage.

[Wawsanham]

I'll second the recipe that lingua gave, but adding some caraway seeds, and cloves could be replaced by juniper berries. I even like it just alone at times--though it is better as an accompaniment.

[mariacarmen]

just a week or so ago i took red & green cabbage, sliced them thin (almost a whole head each), then sauteed them butter and added salt, pepper, and a little bit of sherry at the end to braise and add sweetness. could not get enough of this stuff. sweet/crunchy/silky - yum.

[cheesecake17]

delicious.. can even add some thinly sliced onions and saute them beforehand. It's apple season, so lately I've been adding a sliced apple, apple cider, and a splash of cider vinegar. I can eat the whole pot, even better b/c husband hates cabbage.