Braised Cabbage with Cheese and Beans

Cabbage resurgence!

I literally laughed out loud when reading recently in the NY Times that cabbage is the “darling of the culinary crowd.” Oh boy! Welcome new cabbage lovers. Cabbage has been the everyday vegetable for everyday folk forever. Never mind that it is super healthy, great for your gut, stays fresh for a long time, cheap, available almost all year long and……delicious. 

Cabbage for me has been one of those superfoods, helps cholesterol, fights cancer, keeps you strong, great for digestion. It might even make your coffee in the morning. It is an all around perfect food. My mom taught me how to cook with it but over the years, I make up my own recipes combining it with tomatoes, or just celery and onions, it’s so versatile. I love it cold in salads, hot braised or in soup and of course cabbage rolls. 

This week I made an amazing side dish that was so simple, I could hardly believe that it was as delicious as it was. Braised beans, parmesan, onion, garlic and broth, salt. I bought a lovely jar of Italian lima (Corona) beans thinking I would add them to a salad. But it was cool outside, and I didn’t feel like a cold dish. I recently bought Julius Roberts new cookbook and he talked about breaking the leaves off the cabbage and tearing them instead of slicing and dicing. Brilliant idea. The torn leaves look so much nicer in the dish you are making. Unless you are making coleslaw and then a shave or thin slice is necessary.  

Slow braising green cabbage with just a little leek or onion, salt and pepper brings out its delicacy. I find it has a fragile flavour despite being such a hardy vegetable. Red cabbage I add cider vinegar, apples, maple syrup but green cabbage melts away into the liquid leaving a lovely fragrant taste. This recipe I made with napa cabbage as I had just bought a giant napa cabbage for adding to my salad mix. Napa cabbage is most commonly used in Asian cuisine like Kimchi and stir fries and has a crinkled texture with darker leaves at the end. Regular cabbage is tighter, firmer, a pale light green in colour and slightly stronger in flavour. I use both pretty much interchangeably.

This recipe takes about 1 hour but 55 minutes is cooking time on very low heat. I made it early in the day and then reheated it for dinner. I keep parmesan rinds in the freezer and add them to minestrone soups or braised cabbage recipes. The cheese melts into the cabbage mixture and is salty and delicious. I served a pork chop alongside and Shawn went back for thirds on the cabbage. I mentioned the recipe to my daughter Olivia who is a creative cook and vegetarian. It would be great as a main course with fried tofu or vegetable sausage on the side.