Cabbage is usually associated with old, been around, peasant food, not a sophisticated, luxury or trendy vegetable. There is no novelty in it. We know it’s good but kind of boring.

As I mentioned in my earlier posts, I grew up in a cabbage eating culture where cabbage was the major source of vitamins alongside with beets and onions. Green cabbage was mainly used for sauerkraut, shchi and golubtsy. While red cabbage was festive, good-looking cabbage mainly used in salads by my Mom in the absence of green leafy vegetables during the cold season.

She used to work on it with her hands to let some juice go and then fermented it with a teaspoon of sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper, let it stand for 15 min and then add any other raw vegetables available. Then she generously poured some unfiltered vegetable oil to add to the earthly peasant taste of the salad. Fermentation unlocked the subtle sweetness of red cabbage. Sometimes my Mom added red onion rings to the cabbage before fermentation to add a tangy biting taste to the salad. Sometimes she would also shred an apple into the cabbage.

Red cabbage can be stewed and served as a side dish with duck, but I mainly use it for salads.

The other advantage of cabbage is that it can be stored in your fridge for much longer than the leafy vegetables, which are perishable and need to be fresh. So when I run out of green leaves, cabbage comes in handy.

Let’s make my salad, which is a variation on my Mom’s salad.  

Cut or shred ⅓ of medium size red cabbage head, squeeze it with your hands to get some juice out of it. Mix 2 tbsp of vinegar of your choice, a teaspoon of brown sugar, ½ tsp of salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and add it to cabbage. Cut one small size red onion crosswise into thin rings and add to cabbage mixture. Let it stand for 15 min or so to get fermented.

To finish the salad, add a few chopped radishes, one chopped bell pepper with seeds removed, two small tomatoes, one or two avocados, and pomegranate seeds (optional). Pour ⅓ cup of unfiltered olive oil on top.

Mix. The salad is ready to eat!

P.S. All the food featured in this post has been prepared and photographed by me.