Thursday, February 12, 2009

Red Cabbage and Onions Braised in Red Wine and Balsamic Vinegar

Well, here's three words I never thought I'd utter. I Love Cabbage.

Along with my goal of making something out of a cookbook every week, I also had it in the back of my mind that I should be more experimental with my food, you know, make things that seem difficult or try an ingredient I've never tried before. Last week I made brussel sprouts...I ate the whole batch before I could photograph them. I'd never made them before - and when I tell you that eating a pound and a half of brussel sprouts will give you gas cramps like someone has just ham fisted you in the gut, I'm not exaggerating. It was awful; more so for CB who had to live with my rump trumpet for days than me, but still - I think moderation would be the word the next time I make brussel sprouts; and then maybe I won't eat them so fast that I don't have time to take a lovely photograph of them to share with you.

So, while in the grocery store the other day I spotted this lovely red cabbage - not knowing what the hell I was going to do with it. All the recipes I looked up seemed to use it in conjunction with meat...so then I thought - oh cook it with other things that you love. Onions, check; red wine, check; balsamic vinegar, check - and away we go.

I first sliced the onions thin and put them in a saute pan coated with nonstick spray (I'm still weight watchering it here so no butter or olive oil in the pan for me, but feel free to start with whatever lubricant you like). I added the onions to the pan and sauteed them with a little sea salt and fresh cracked pepper until they were soft and translucent.

I then added the shredded cabbage to the pan, threw in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup red wine and a few splashes of balsamic vinegar (I'm currently using a truffled balsamic which just rocks, but use whatever you have) a little more salt and pepper - then just let it do it's thing in the pan (over med high heat) until the cabbage was nice and soft and all the liquid had been absorbed.

I served it hot (and today I ate it cold on the top of my salad at lunch) and it was fantastic both ways. CB even commented more than once that it was "really good".

And - it's lovely color would be a great addition to your Valentine's Day spread if you you're into that crappy hallmark holiday.

Rating = So Damn Good (and I assume it's 0 WW pts)

3 comments:

Meg said...

OK, that opening paragraph about the brussel sprouts just made me laugh out loud so hard that I needed to try and stifle it so that I didn't have to recite the "rump trumpet" line back to my lovely husband.

Also funny because I had cabbage with my dinner out tonight and I think I can truthfully say I had never had cabbage before in my life and it wasn't so bad. Perhaps I need to give this a go!

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say hello, and let you know I read your blog weekly. I enjoy your humour, especially your 'train station' stories! I've tried a few of the biscotti and bread recipes....thanks for sharing them. Can't wait to try the braised cabbage tonight. Keep on cooking and blogging, I think you have alot of fans out here!
~Lesley (Ottawa, Ontario)

JB said...

Lesley, thanks so much for your kind post. Its nice to know that people enjoy the blog. Life has been so busy lately that I don't have the time to cook or blog nearly as much as I would like to, but hopefully when the spring comes I won't feel so overwhelmed and can do more. Thanks Again.