When you think of certain foods, unexpected associations come to mind. Let’s take cabbage, for example. To me personally, it is a simple hard working man’s food that I somehow find difficult to imagine on a table at a stylish dinner party. However, last week’s beet salad I’d call “fancy”. Don’t ask me why. Beet in itself is not a very romantic vegetable but somehow paired with some pumpkin seeds and goat cheese it becomes a cool, stylish and “in” salad.
So how do you prepare cabbage in a way that it could be a nice looking and a craved for appetizer or a side?
Before we dive in, let’s take a look at a couple of things that can be made with it. First of all, I grew up with what Lithuanians call “balandeliai” and Polish call “Golumpki”, which is basically the stuffed cabbage version of the stuffed grape leaf of the Meditteranean region. Delicious? Oh yes. Takes a lot of effort? A little bit. Family dinner or a sophisticated feast? Absolutely the first.
Another thing that cabbage is really great for is soup. Earlier this year I wrote about the “hangover soup” made from sauerkraut, which is none other than pickled cabbage. A very good soup, if you ask me. You should try it.
But if you are not into that kind of thing, a simple shredded cabbage, a few diced potatoes, a couple of carrots, bay leaf, chicken stock and possibly some bacon (ah, did I say that again?) can make you a soup that will quench thirst and kill the worm in the stomach (don’t even know if that is a way to say it in English, but you know what I mean).
Again, delicious? Absolutely. Takes a lot of effort? Not at all. Family dinner or a sophisticated feast? Family dinner all the way.
There are many more dishes you can prepare with cabbage and quite a few of them I’m sure are way cooler than what I described here. However, I do have a pretty darn delicious salad for you. And yes, cabbage is the main ingredient. And, although not necessarily a fancy feast material, it does look appetizing, is refreshing and can be served even at a party:)
There are tons of variations of this cabbage salad, as usual. I am sharing my favorite one.
This is another one of the salads that can be easily adapted to any taste. Main ingredients are simple and a staple of any kitchen.
- 1/2 medium sized cabbage shredded
- 1 large tomato (or 2-3 medium sized)
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- salt and pepper to taste
- parsley optional
- dill optional
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Shred the cabbage and place it in a bowl. (The finer the shreds, the better)
Dice the tomato and add it to the bowl with the cabbage.
Add salt and pepper, to taste.
If you are using fresh parsley and/or dill, chop it finely and add it to the mixture of vegetables.
Add a tablespoon or two of mayonnaise and mix thoroughly.
Serve as an appetizer or a side to any meat dish.
Enjoy!
Variations
As I mentioned earlier, there are multitudes of variations to this salad. Here are a few to try:
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In addition to tomato, add a finely diced cucumber and bell pepper
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Likewise, if you don’t like tomatoes, omit them altogether and just have it with cucumber and/or bell pepper
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Shred some carrots and add them to the salad
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If you are wary of using mayonnaise, Ranch dressing works beautifully.
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If you don’t want any kind of store produced dressing, I find that a tablespoon of lemon juice mixed with a tablespoon of olive oil works fantastic.
This cabbage salad is really quick and refreshing. Won’t take any extra time to prepare it but it looks good and you can watch it disappear in no time:)
