Southern Fried Cabbage Recipe

I’m a Southern girl raised on Southern food. While growing up I was made to eat foods I did not like except for tomatoes. They were the only thing I wasn’t forced to eat, maybe because it was not the main food item. Boiled cabbage was one of the cooked foods I had to mix with something to hide the horrible taste. The funky smell it gives off while cooking will make anyone want to turn up their nose at this awesome vegetable. It wasn’t until I tried my husband’s aunt’s fried cabbage that I fell in love with cabbage.

When I worked part-time back in Montana, there was a younger girl talking about her husband’s family. She mentioned how he grew up eating “poor people’s food” and they didn’t like visiting them because that is what was served. I couldn’t help but giggle when I asked what was poor people’s food, she mentioned vegetables with cabbage being one. I laughed and asked her what did she consider normal foods for them. Meat, meat, and more meat with few vegetables mentioned. Really? Eating vegetables is poor people’s food? Would you believe this is not the only time I heard of cabbage being considered a poor food? I have a sister-in-law who refuses to eat cabbage because she has it labeled as “poor food”.

While vegetables are packed with vitamins and minerals, they are a perfect way to stretch the almighty dollar. Vegetables should never be considered a “poor people food”.

Health Benefits of Cabbage:

Vitamins A, C, B1, B5, B6, K

Fiber, Folate, Manganese, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Calcium, Sulfur, and Potassium

Cancer-fighting agents

Anti-inflammatory agents

Last fall, we planted cabbage. I had never planted it before so I was a little skeptical of us harvesting anything. We harvested several heads of cabbage before the temperatures dropped and the snow came.

I have found that the bigger and more white a cabbage is, the tougher the leaves will be. When buying a cabbage, look for a smaller head with lots of green leaves.

People have their own method of cutting a cabbage, but I find shredded or thinly sliced cabbage to be the best. You won’t be getting a mouthful of the tougher part of the leaf all at one time.

This recipe is really not fried, but rather sauteed. Being from the South everything is “fried” – it’s a Southern thing, you know!

Southern Fried Cabbage

Ingredients:

• 5-6 slices bacon chopped

• 1 small onion chopped

• 1 medium head of cabbage cored and sliced thinly

• salt and pepper to taste

• pinch of sugar - optional

Directions:

In a skillet, fry bacon until crisp. Remove from pan and set aside. Place onion in the skillet and cook until soft and translucent. Add the cabbage to the skillet and toss to coat with the bacon grease. Cook until cabbage becomes tender.

Some people like a little added sugar to their cabbage, I don't, but it's up to you and your tastes.

Another thing, I like my cabbage with a little brown color to it, so I let mine cook a little longer. There's something about the thought of crispy cabbage.

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