Stir-Fried Red Cabbage with apples

½ Red Cabbage
½ Red Onion
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 Granny Smith Apple

Quarter the cabbage and remove the heart of the cabbage.
Cross-cut the red cabbage in very small shreds.
Do the same thing to the red onion (leaving the heart in).
Put a teaspoon of canola oil in the wok. (I have an electric wok, and turned the temperature up to 350) Place the onions in the wok, and allow them to cook, followed by the cabbage, salt and pepper.
Put the lid on the wok and allow the cabbage to cook for 4-5 minutes. Stir well.
Add the apple cider vinegar. Cover to cook two more minutes.
Peel your apple and slice/cut into bite size chunks (make sure apple is cored).
Stir apple pieces into cabbage mixture. Turn temp down to 300. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Serve as side dish.
I remember my mother making boiled cabbage for dinner. I disliked the smell wafting through our home that used to linger for half the week after it was cooked. I disliked the look of the boiled cabbage nearly as much as I disliked the smell. The pale shapeless globs of linen green lumps on my parent’s plates were enough to make me for-go dinner at all, and I often did.
A staple of several Slavic dishes, and my father was part polish, we had this too often for me to make friends with cabbage, at least in it’s boiled form.
I did find that I liked cole slaw growing up, but I resolved that the wonders of cooked cabbage would be something forever alien to me.
I heard on a Martha Stewart show that cabbage (as well as black-eyed peas) were supposed to bring wealth into your life. (draws a breath) Well, Walt likes cabbage, so I decided to try something new with the cabbage and maybe I could choke some down, just for the good karma.
When I made this on New Years Day, I couldn’t believe the fragrant aroma encircling my electric wok. The red onion was carmelizing, the cabbage was earthy smelling and it was all turning this jewel-toned magenta. I had seen a similar recipe for green cabbage several years ago on a Disney Christmas vhs. So I added the apple cider vinegar, as I remembered.
Then I tasted it. It was crispy, sort of and pungent. The cider vinegar made it kind of sweet and there was no acrid aspect that I remembered of boiled cabbage. I remembered thinking “this would be good with apples”. So tonight when I made it , I added the Granny Smith apple. Zingy with different textures, this dish is a vegitarian’s dream (I know because I used to be one) .
It’s a welcome addition to my vegetable repertoire.
Until Next time;
Eat something wonderful
And live a life worth loving.
-Kim