If your goal is to make a photogenic dish that will kill it on instagram – well, I’m very sorry, but this is not the recipe for you. Alas. If you want to whip up a meal that will warm your bones and have you licking your bowl clean (not exaggerating, I lick the bowl clean every. damn. time.) then this IS the recipe for you. Braised cabbage is quite possibly the least sexy dish in the history of the world, but it’s also the one thing that I always crave on dark, dreary winter days. To braise simply means to cook something (whether it’s meat or vegetables) low and slow, usually tightly covered in a dish with some liquid. In this case, the end result is cabbage that has been utterly transformed into a caramelized, luxurious heap… my friends, this is the cabbage of your wildest dreams. I like to serve braised cabbage topped with a fried egg, a side of creamy polenta, and a bright green salad with a zippy vinaigrette.
Braised Cabbage with Carrots & Onions
A cozy + comforting cabbage-filled meal for chilly days and nights. Recipe adapted from "All about Braising" by Molly Stevens.
ingredients
1 large yellow onion, sliced into rough 1/3-inch slices
3 large carrots, sliced into ¼-inch rounds
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce/gluten free liquid aminos
instructions
- Preaheat oven to 325F.
- Peel off and discard from the cabbage any bruised or messy outer leaves. Cut it into 8 wedges, and trim away some of the woody core, leaving enough to hold each wedge intact. Arrange the wedges in a 9 x 13 baking dish. They may overlap a little, but you want them to lie in a single—if crowded—layer. If they don’t fit nicely into the dish, remove one wedge and set it aside for later use.
- Scatter the chopped onion and carrot over the cabbage, and pour the apple cider vinegar and oil over everything. Season with a couple pinches of coarse salt, a couple grinds of the pepper mill, and the red pepper flakes. Cover the dish tightly with foil, and slide it into the oven.
- Cook the vegetables for 1 hour; then remove the dish from the oven and gently turn the cabbage wedges using tongs. If the dish seems at all dry, add a couple tablespoons of water. Cover the dish again with foil and return it to the oven to cook until the vegetables are very tender, about an hour more.
- When the cabbage is completely tender, remove the foil over the baking dish, turn the oven up to 400 degrees, and continue cooking until the vegetables begin to brown lightly on their edges, another 15 or so minutes.
- When you pull the braised cabbage out of the oven, drizzle with a few tablespoons of soy sauce/liquid aminos – this is optional, but it gives the dish an amazing "oomph" of umami flavor.
- Serve warm, sprinkled with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. This dish is next-level delicious when topped with a few fried eggs