We get cabbage quite often in the CSA, and I didn’t used to be a cabbage person. I never understood why folks wanted cabbage instead of lettuce on their fish tacos. I don’t like coleslaw. I don’t like cooked cabbage – blech! Now, this is where Hubby and I differ. He loves cabbage. He’ll eat it raw, he’ll eat it steamed. He told me once that he almost ate the cabbage from our CSA share on the way home from picking it up, like an apple. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that he needed to take a photo for this blog. One day, in a huge display of matrimonial support, I will actually prepare corned beef and cabbage for him. Then he will die of shock and surprise. But he will have died happy.
The thing about how much Hubby loves the cabbage is this: unless I’ve told him that he has to fend for himself for a meal, he won’t think of making anything. And even if I’ve told him he needs to feed himself, it’s far more likely to be cereal than anything that requires preparation. Even the day that he was tempted to eat the cabbage on the way home, he then put it into the refrigerator and forgot about it until I pulled it out to make this recipe.
So I’ve had to figure out how to use cabbage in a way that I’ll actually eat it. One day, I came across this recipe on Epicurious, and I’ve developed it into the wonder you see below. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- cabbage – this can be red, green, Chinese, whatever you want (or happen to have on hand).
- leaves from ½ bunch of fresh cilantro
- 1 lime
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
Preparation:
- Slice your cabbage into a nest of thin, squiggly bits and combine with cilantro leaves in medium bowl
.
- Zest
your lime (directly into the same bowl) and make it all cool and stripey looking.
- Juice your lime into the same bowl and add olive oil and salt & pepper.
- Toss your limey cabbage and it’s ready to serve as a component in tacos or burritos, or as a side salad.
The Verdict:
We’ve made several variations on this recipe; when we’re out of cilantro, it’s just cabbage in a lime/olive oil dressing. When we have bell peppers that need to be used, we throw them in. It’s a pretty forgiving base for getting some tasty veggies into your tacos. We’ve always used it as a taco topping, but my cousin’s son loves it on its own, just as salad. I guess that’s not surprising, since both her children ask if they can eat the lime pulp after I’ve squeezed the juice for the recipe…
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This is incredibly delicious. It’s become a weekly ” must make” for me since I have gone back to eating primarily vegetarian (thank you for the recipe!) . I have added fresh corn & red bell pepper from time to time and let’s be clear & honest: it’s awesome!
I used your recipe to prepare cabbage from our CSA share for the 4th of July. Everyone at our bbq enjoyed it. One friend even said, “If all cabbage tasted this way, I would become a cabbage-lovin’ fool!” Thank you for sharing, your recipe is being added to my collection.