Red cabbage candy (cinnamon rode kool)

Meet my new friend, red cabbage. Ain't she cute?


Cabbage and I had a rocky start in my teens and early twenties. I'd placed it firmly in the Savory/Sour Foods category. Cabbage meant boiled lumps of inedible greenery! Picnic "coleslaw" with mysterious, untrustworthy mayonnaise dressing! Stinky sauerkraut heaped onto a stadium brat! Thanks, but I'll pass.

My perspective on cabbage changed when I took a German class in Wichita. One night after two hours of vocab and verb conjugation, we all ate at Imbiss Grille downtown, taking the time to (slowly) order our dinner auf Deutsch. That's where I got hip to rode kool--a warm, sweet-spiced cabbage dish featuring cloves, apples, sugar, and sometimes raisins. It tasted like tart apple cobbler filling mixed with a cherry sweet tart. Who knew that cabbage could taste like candy?

Cabbage and I were so back on.


On Monday afternoon, when the sun shyly peeked out from the rainclouds, I experimented with a new ways to prepare my cruciferous friend. I wanted to create a sweet-tart cabbage salad like rode kool, but without all the fruit add-ins. Instead of a cooked dish, I started with a raw cabbage slaw. To that, I added a dressing of sugar, olive oil and raw apple cider vinegar (for its pucker factor.) I scrapped the three cloves my Melting Pot of Mennonite cookbook advised and instead added enough cinnamon to kill a mule.

Snap-bang! The results couldn't have been more lovely. After 30 minutes of marinating, I had a crunchy-sweet salad that I could not. stop. eating. The next day, after more cinnamon and dressing absorbed into the cabbage, it tasted even better. If the salad had lasted 'till day five, I'm sure it would have tasted better still.


Cinnamon rode kool slaw (without apples)
serves 8, 6, or....1

• 1 small head red cabbage, sliced thinly
• 2/3 cup raw apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup agave nectar or maple syrup
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 heaping Tb. ground cinnamon
  

Using a sharp knife, shred a small head of red cabbage into thin strips. Scoop all the cabbage into a large bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the dressing. Pour the mixture over the cabbage and stir well. Let the cabbage and dressing mingle for five minutes, then stir again. Repeat this process two or three more times. If you end with too much cabbage and not enough dressing, add more liquid in these proportions: 1 TB. honey + 2 TB. vinegar + 1 tsp. cinnamon + 1/4 tsp. oil.

The slaw keeps for five days or so, when covered with plastic wrap in the fridge. On day one, you enjoy both distinct elements with each bite--the delicately flavored cabbage and the cinnamon dressing. On day three, the cabbage is still crunchy. It's turned purple-red with a pink center and sopped up most of the liquid. By day five, the slaw is no longer crunchy, but crisp-chewy to the bite, like a good sauerkraut. A sauerkraut you'd pile onto some warmed apple pie with a bit of honey-spiked yogurt.

How should you eat this divine slaw? On a bratwurst, next to a pile of mashed potatoes, on a turkey or a creamy Swiss and pepper sandwich? It would pair well with some barbecued peach pizza, or you could stuff it into some bierocks. (I'll have a recipe for those soon.)


If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:
Three-minute strawberry salad with spearmint
Kicky coleslaw with brown sugar dressing
Cranberry peach salad with g.i.n.g.e.r