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Cabbage - Recipes Straight From the Garden

© Dar Cheek

In the south, a lot of our meals revolve around what we grew in the garden over the past summer. Every family must have a squash casserole recipe, a secret ingredient that makes their green beans just right, a variety of the hashbrown casserole, and dozens of recipes for cabbage. As y'all were asking about recipes for "lite" meals, I realized that we don't really have a word for "lite" in our down-home repertoire, but we do have a few dishes that "ain't too bad for ya." Many of these dishes include cabbage.

So, for this article, we are going to focus on cabbage recipes. I can't promise the fried cabbage is low-fat (since it's fried in at least a stick of butter), but the cabbage soup has absolutely nothing bad for you in it and is considered a "free" food on most diet plans. You can also plant cabbage in the early spring and early fall, so it always seems to be in abundance in our kitchen.

Corned Beef & Cabbage is an all-time favorite in our family, partly because we're Irish and partly because it's just plain good! It's great to make on hot days since we cook it in the crockpot, and the preparation is very easy. This makes a wonderful Sunday after church dinner.

You'll need: 1 corned beef brisket (with seasoning packet) and 1 large head of cabbage. The night before you plan to cook it, rub the brisket with the seasoning mix, cover, and refrigerate until the next morning. The only tricky part is how spicy you like it. If you like more spice, do not rinse the brisket, just place it in the crockpot. If you like it less spicy, rinse it off before you place it in the crockpot. Then, cover the brisket with water and cook on high for about 4 hours. Then, quarter your cabbage and toss it into the pot. You may need to add a little more water to cover the cabbage. Then continue to cook for another 3-4 hours. Your brisket and cabbage will begin to get tender. Take your brisket out and slice diagonally, as thick or thin as you like it, and then toss it back into the pot. You can cook it for another hour or so, or until you're ready for dinner.

For a variation, add one large onion, two sticks of sliced celery, a few red new potatoes, and four sliced carrots when you add your cabbage.

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