When it comes to the two options in take it or leave it, where cabbage is concerned, my husband would be in the “leave it” camp. It’s not that he doesn’t like cabbage, per say. It’s more that he’s indifferent to it. It doesn’t have the boldest of flavors. It’s a background vegetable. However, I grew up in a family where cabbage was in the regular rotation. It was often boiled and topped with salt and pepper, but it could also be seen in stir-fries or in the form of sauerkraut. So as an adult, generally when I bring cabbage into our house, it gets a lukewarm response.
“What are we having for dinner? Oh, cabbage.” (Cue crickets.)
We’ll put it on tacos, throw a handful into a Thai noodle stir-fry, or steam it as a side. Then I’m left to my own devices trying to figure out how to finish off a head of cabbage by myself. It becomes the cabbage burden.
That is to say, it used to be the cabbage burden. Ladies and gentlemen, a cabbage lover has been created. In fact, just this afternoon over lunch my husband went back for seconds and took the final scoop of cabbage. (Luckily, he saw my forlorn face and gave me the last bite.) What brought about this change? Roasting.
Yes, I know, roasting is not news. Everyone knows about roasting. Like its warm weather cousin, grilling, roasting has the ability to bring the sweetness of a vegetable to life while also deepening its flavors. The caramelized and slightly burnt qualities give it an extra crispness and a fuller taste. Many vegetables are improved when roasted – Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, Delicata squash… Yet, somehow I’d never thought to try our cruciferous colleague, cabbage.
Crispy cabbage isn’t completely dissimilar to the web darling, crispy kale, but it’s more of a side dish than a potato chip replacement. When you remove the core and cut it into small pieces, there’s a greater crispy, nearly burnt portion to green ratio. With each satisfying bite, you get some crunchy parts, some buttery soft, and a little hit of salt.
Be warned, these bites of cabbage shrink by a good margin. If you’re serving two, make a double batch. Put the second batch on its own baking sheet, so that it has plenty of room to spread out. If it’s piled together or there’s too much on a sheet, it means that it will steam instead of roast. Roasting time can vary depending on your oven and how close the baking sheet is to the heat source.
Crispy Cabbage
Serves 1
- 2 heaping cups raw cabbage, chopped small
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt, to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cabbage with extra virgin olive oil and spread evenly on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, stopping once to toss. Top cabbage with a sprinkling of salt and serve.
In other news, I’ve been taking a pottery class for the past couple of months, and this week I did a guest post over at Earthfood Experiment on the topic of art and transformation. Check it out!
What a brilliant idea to roast cabbage! It looks so good roasted! Not my favorite vegetable of all time but I like it enough to get it once in a while.
Thanks! I was really surprised by what a bit of roasting could do. That crispy texture gives some oomph to ordinary cabbage.
I would have never thought to roast cabbage… Yum!!
Sometimes simple is best!
I wish how you could have heard my actual gasp when I saw the cabbage go from raw to roasted. Gasp. With my mouth opened and all. Both Greg and I love cabbage and I have a feeling this is going to be a hit between the both of us!
You’re so cute! I like imagining you there gasping over cabbage. You’re my kind of person!
Since you love cabbage already, you’re sure to love it roasted.
Cadry, I think you already know how much I love cabbage or at least Bubby’s sauerkraut. Roasted cabbage. Yippeekayay. What a lightbulb of an idea. Loud guffaw at your tag, “how to love vegetables you hate”. I don’t hate cabbage!!!! and this looks like a must try!
Yes, we’re Bubbies buddies!
As for recipes, it couldn’t get much easier than this! I hope you enjoy it!
PS great guest post and how many takes did you need with the dinosaur? Love the video! So funny and also dig your matching kale jacket.
Yeah, where kale is concerned, I don’t mind being matchy-matchy!
Surprisingly, the clay dinosaur didn’t need that many takes. He’s a real pro. I think it also helped that whenever he messed up, I eyed him menacingly with a rolling pin.
Matchy matchy is bad when it comes to greens
I heard that all the cool indie directors are using rolling pins now!
Who knew cabbage could look so delicious!? We don’t eat it often, and when we do, it’s generally just a tiny bit for a recipe so most of the head of cabbage ends up going to waste. I’ll keep this crispy cabbage in mind–it sounds like the perfect solution.
One great thing about roasted kale is how much it shrinks. It’s easy for a person to eat 2 or more cups of cabbage in one sitting, which would be much more of a feat raw or steamed! You could zoom through that head of cabbage in no time.
Cabbage chips! yess.. i bet we can chip-ify all these leave veggies with all those fun spice combinations.. and then there will be no fuss about eating more veggies!:)
Absolutely! We’ll get people to eat their veggies – one chip at a time!
This is spectacular, Cadry! I never know what to do with the leftover cabbage that I have from my morning smoothies – turn it into an afternoon snack? I think I will!