Cabbage and Apple

A couple of weeks ago, we went to an event hosted by Simply Good Food, our local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). One of the growers, Frank van Steensel, was so eloquent about the superior nutrition of vegetables grown properly in nutrient dense soil, that it reminded me that there are not many vege recipes on this blog, yet...


So let's get started with our favourite cabbage recipe - Red Cabbage simmered with apples and onions. This is adapted from a  recipe in Nourishing Traditions that doesn't include the onion. So if you can't have onions, it's fine to leave them out. If you're on GAPS or SCD and can have fruit, the apple adds some carbs without adding starch.

• 1 tablespoon butter or ghee
• 1 onion
• ½ medium red cabbage
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 cloves
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon honey
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
• ½ cup water
• 1 apple
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Optional: 1-2 Tbs red or white wine vinegar

Chop up the onion, and sauté in butter in a large frying pan that has a lid. In a small pan, mix bay leaf, cloves, salt, honey and cinnamon with water and start simmering. Cut the core out of the cabbage, and slice thinly. Rinse the cabbage in a colander and add to the frying pan. Pour the now flavoured water through the colander into the frying pan, and mix all together. Put the lid on, turn the heat down low and cook gently for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, peel the apple if you like, but it doesn’t have to be peeled. Cut into quarters, and slice each quarter thinly. Add to the frying pan, stir  and cook for another 15 minutes. Take off the heat, and drain off any excess liquid. Toss with the butter and optional vinegar and serve.

This is a nice side dish with any meat or poultry. Or you can chop up your meat when it’s cooked and toss it through, for a one dish meal. 

You can do something similar with Green Cabbage. Green cabbage doesn't need to cook as long.

• 1 Tablespoon butter or ghee
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, cut in half and then sliced thinly
• ½ a large or all of a small green cabbage
• 1 apple, sliced
• Juice of a lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• sprinkling of paprika

Sauté the onion and carrot  in butter. Meanwhile, chop up the green cabbage, and rinse. Chop up the apple. Add the lemon juice, salt and paprika to pan and stir well. Add cabbage and apple and stir well. Add more butter if needed. Cover and simmer for a few mins till cabbage is soft.