'tis the season

... for cabbage. It seems this time of year, cabbage is a big deal. For those of you who are Irish, I'm going to take a wild guess that you had some recently, accompanied by corned beef. Because I've been hearing about it quite a bit and seeing it on the food network, I figured 'why not?'

I've eaten it before in coleslaw, cooked, and as sauerkraut but I've never cooked with it myself. And my experience with coleslaw has been opening a pre-shredded bag, adding store-bought dressing, and ta da! Yesterday, I bought a real head of cabbage and thought to myself 'now what?'

I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't totally wow-ed, but it was good. It's a decent side dish, providing the other food is pretty flavorful/well-spiced. While a bit bland, the thing I liked was that it was light and fresh -- but warm on a cold day, because I wasn't in the mood for something overly heavy. So here goes:

Cooked Cabbage
1/2 of a medium head green cabbage, coarsely chopped
3/4 c. water
1/2 c. dry white wine
2 Tbsp butter
1/8 c. sunflower seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Steam cabbage until soft/tender, but not mushy over water and wine mixed. Once steamed, place cabbage in a bowl and stir in butter until melted. Add sunflower seeds, stirring until well-distributed. Salt and pepper to taste.


And there you have it - pretty quick and few ingredients. We served with turkey brats that were very yummy. There are lots of other ways to use cabbage, and I have half of a head left, so will need to use it tomorrow for something. If it's good, I'll let you know!