Nourishments—

Brightly Colored Red Cabbage

Provides A Nutritional Autumn Boost

By Nancy K. Crevier

I have an image in my head of my grandpa arriving at our home one chilly fall evening, when I was about 4 years old, carrying a huge purple cabbage under his arm. I was alarmed. Cabbages, in my brief experience, were green, not purple.

My grandpa was a farmer, and grew most of the vegetables that he and my grandma lived on, year around. I am not talking about a farm of hundreds of acres devoted to plantings. His garden was big enough that you knew when you had spent several hours weeding it, but not so big that you could not see across the cornstalks waving in the breeze or hurry down the path between the beets and carrots in time to shoosh away a pesky crow.

He grew broccoli, celery, asparagus, potatoes, peas, and beans, too. What he did not grow, I believe he traded for with his other farmer friends. Oh, and he grew cabbage — human head-sized red (a/k/a purple)  — and green — cabbages.

As horrified as I was by the purple cabbage, I believe my mother was excited to receive this gift from her father’s garden. She cut it into wedges and it appeared, raw, on our dinner plates. She shredded it and slipped it into our green salads. I pushed it around my plate suspiciously, but once I tasted it, I was relieved to find that it tasted like… green cabbage. Sweet and strong at the same time, crunching down on the crisp strands released the moisture captured in the thick leaves. Best of all, I later discovered, standing in front of the mirror, that eating red cabbage left a wonderful purple stain on one’s tongue. How much better could a vegetable get?

Well, now that I am older, I see that red cabbage is better in many more ways than its ability to paint the inside of my mouth. Now I know that red cabbage paints my insides with an incredible amount of vitamins C, K, and A. One cup of raw, red cabbage contains 85 percent of the daily value of vitamin C and 20 percent of the daily value of vitamin A. Forty-two percent of the daily value of vitamin K is in that cup, a vitamin that is not so well known as the others but is essential for blood coagulation — its name is derived from the German “Koagulationsvitamin” — and for bone and tissue health. There is a little iron (four percent of the daily value) and surprisingly, it is a source of a bit of calcium (also four percent of the daily value) in red cabbage.

Did I care about fiber way back when? No, but I’ve learned since that a cup of red cabbage provides seven percent of the daily value of fiber. For those who must watch all sources of sugars, a cup of red cabbage contains 3 grams of natural sugars. Calorie counters will be pleased to find that the cup of cabbage contains just 27 calories.

I am not so fortunate as to have red cabbage growing in my garden, and it has been many years since my grandpa delivered just-picked cabbages to my doorstep. Late season farmers’ markets are a wonderful place to shop for this autumn prize, though, and any grocery store worth its salt will carry red cabbage. Choose a head of cabbage that feels solid for its size, and leaves that are compact and unbruised.

A vegetable that peaks in flavor during the colder weather, it should come as no surprise that red cabbage must be kept chilled after purchase. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or a plastic bag, or store it in a closely fitted and covered container, and store in the produce drawer of the refrigerator. Use the cabbage within a few days of first cutting into it, as quality and nutrition begins to break down quickly after that.

As beautiful as it is delicious, red cabbage can be utilized in any green cabbage recipe, so long as it can tolerate the pinky-purple color it will take on. Add it to vegetarian chili, toss it into tomato-based soups, braise it, or grate it raw and enjoy it in its simplicity.