Hunter Gatherer - The Humble Cabbage

After a wonderful week in Queensland we returned on Saturday night to a fridge and cupboard that were both completely empty of fruit and veg. I had deliberately used up everything before we left and planned a big shop on our return. On Sunday morning I headed off to our fruit and veg shop and using my list filled a trolley of fresh produce and some dairy. When I was putting it all on the counter the new shop assistant smiled and asked me if I worked in a restaurant. She was amazed when I explained that this was just the weekly fruit and veggie shop for my relatively small family.

Her comment reminded me of how much our thermomix had changed our lives. Before purchasing our thermie our vegie list was rather short but my list on Sunday included leeks, cabbage, turnips, onions, garlic, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, capsicums, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut pumpkin, potatoes and that was just the vegies. My thermie has of course been busy since our return and over half of the vegies have already been used up. I have made soup, stew, vegie stock and vegie slice (well thermie made them really :)).

There is one vegie that really stands out from my list though in terms of it's nutritional content and that is the humble old cabbage. Cabbages are packed with nutrients and really should be listed as a super food. I find it somewhat amusing that the youthful appearance of the Chinese population is so often attributed to eating rice when all nutritional evidence suggests that cabbage is the primary health-giving staple of their diet. I guess we all believe what we want to believe and most people would probably prefer to eat rice rather than cabbage when chasing the promise of a youthful appearance!

Chow Mein with Cabbage

I buy a cabbage every second week in my shop and challenge myself to use it all up. Even though it isn't one of our favourite vegies I know that it is really good for us. Cabbage is the home of many powerful anti-oxidants that are known to help protect against breast, colon and prostate cancer. It is also an excellent source of vitamin C, B1, B5, B6 which assist the body to develop resistance to infections and are essential for ongoing good health. Our bodies absorb these vitamins much more effectively from natural whole foods rather than rock derived supplements. Cabbage contains minerals such as potassium, manganese, iron and magnesium. Who needs Nutragrain when you have cabbage - seriously! For kids eating cabbage is a must as it is one of the major sources of vitamin-K which has now been proven to play a critical role in developing and maintaining healthy bones. Cabbage has such an amazing nutritional profile that it can really only be compared to brussel sprouts (I stick with cabbage though :)).

If you aren't eating cabbage in your diet regularly, I challenge you to take the cabbage challenge. Buy it regularly and use it up. Plans meals for your family using cabbage regularly. Some of our favourite thermomix cabbage recipes are my Chow Mein, the winter soup from My Way of Cooking and coleslaw from the Everyday cookbook. We often just have it as a simple side too (fried with a little butter, diced capsicum and bacon). Yum!

Winter Soup with Cabbage