Always keep an open mind with cabbage

Many consider cabbage to be a winter vegetable and use it for stuffing or for adding to hearty, long-cooking Russian-style meat soups.

Yet this healthy, inexpensive vegetable is available year round, and I find good quality cabbage in the spring.

With the warmer weather, I opt for lighter, faster-cooking cabbage dishes - quick soups, salads, stir-fries and sandwiches.

Cabbage soups can be fresh, light and vegetarian. East Asians excel at making these kinds of soups, often pairing cabbage with mushrooms in a light broth.

Nava Atlas, author of Wild About Greens, uses Chinese cabbage in her bean-thread noodle soup with greens and shiitake mushrooms, seasoned with soy sauce and green onions.

She flavours a cabbage and tofu soup with mushrooms, dry wine and soy sauce.

To many, cabbage salad means coleslaw made with grated carrots and a sweet mayonnaise dressing added to the shredded cabbage.

The sweet flavour of raw cabbage also marries well with tangy, savoury and spicy flavours. For this time of year I prefer my cabbage salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar.

Gordon Ramsay gives a recipe for a simple, fresh coleslaw with European and Asian flavours in his new book, Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite.

He combines green and red cabbage with Chinese cabbage and marinates them in a dressing of sesame oil, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and whole-grain mustard.

At serving time he tosses the salad with plenty of snipped chives.

For a cabbage salad with Middle Eastern flavour, you can pair shredded cabbage with tehina sauce, as they do in Egypt.

Paula Wolfert, author of Mediterranean Grains and Greens, seasons this salad with cumin and serves it with grilled fish steaks.

From Jerusalem chef Moshe Basson Wolfert learned to prepare a refreshing salad of shredded cabbage and purslane (a weed known as miner's lettuce) with green onions, diced cucumbers and baby greens, dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.

Chinese cabbage contributes a delicate flavour and crisp texture to appetiser salads and to briefly cooked side dishes.

For a colourful salad, I mix Chinese cabbage with finely shredded red cabbage, chopped spinach, diced cucumbers and an olive oil and lemon juice dressing.

To prepare a quick side dish, Atlas stir-fries Chinese cabbage and chard in olive oil and heats them with browned leeks, shallots and hot red pepper flakes.

A cabbage stir-fry also flavours her Vietnamese pasta dish with tomato-garlic sauce, tofu and spinach; it is garnished with chopped peanuts and basil leaves.

Cabbage is good in sandwiches, and not just as coleslaw to accompany frankfurters in buns. Sauteed cabbage is satisfying enough to be a sandwich filling's main element.

When I want a wrap, I sometimes make a spicy cabbage taco by filling a warm tortilla with cabbage sauteed with onions, chilies and turmeric and mixed with chickpeas.

I also make a sabich-style sandwich using cabbage instead of aubergine.

First I spread hummous on wholewheat bread, top it with cabbage that I sauteed with onions, and add a little diced pickled mango and slices of hard-boiled egg.

These sandwiches are a departure from tradition but with cabbage, as with other foods, there's merit to keeping an open mind.

Chinese Cabbage, Tofu & Mushroom Soup

THIS recipe is from Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 8-10 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tbsp soy sauce, preferably reduced-sodium
• 1/4 cup dry white wine or cooking sherry
• 1/2 head Chinese cabbage
• 1 cup small fresh mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
• 225g tofu
• 2 big handfuls baby spinach
• 2-3 green onions, green part only
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

method

To make the mushroom broth, combine the onion, garlic, dried mushrooms, soy sauce and wine in a small soup pot with 6 cups of water and bring to a slow boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Scoop the mushrooms out with a slotted spoon. Cut away and discard the stems and slice the caps; return them to the broth.

Add the Chinese cabbage and fresh mushrooms to the broth and return to a gentle boil; then lower the heat, cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the cabbage and mushrooms have softened. Stir in the tofu, spinach and green onions and cook just until the greens are wilted.

Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper and serve at once.

Cabbage & Rice with Tomatoes & Spices

INGREDIENTS

• 2-3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, quartered and sliced thin
• 1 small head cabbage, shredded
• 2 cups long-grain rice
• 6 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 1 litre vegetable broth, chicken broth (for non-dairy meals) or water
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Can tomatoes, drained and diced, or 1 to 2 cups peeled, diced ripe tomatoes

Method

Heat 2 or 3 tbsp oil in a stew pan. Add the onions and saute over medium heat, stirring often, for 7 minutes or until softened. Add the cabbage and a pinch of salt, cover and cook over low heat, stirring often, for 7 minutes. Add the garlic, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cloves and rice and mix well. Saute, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the broth and pepper; if using unsalted broth or water, add 1 to 11/2 tsp salt. Stir and bring to boil. Cover and cook over low heat, without stirring, for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the tomatoes over the cabbage and rice mixture. Cover and cook for 7 to 10 minutes or until the rice is tender. Let stand, covered, for about 10 minutes. If you like, add another tbsp olive oil. Toss gently with a fork. Taste and adjust seasoning.