Fried Cabbage - a breakfast staple my six year old LOVES

Freshly picked cabbage from the garden.

Summer kicks my ass...or more specifically, it makes my ass grow big.  I'm a creature of the North who gets active between fall and spring. But in the summer I just sit there eating ice cream and sucking down cheap, cold beer and trying to keep from melting.

Fortunately, it's finally cabbage season. The cabbages are big and around, and the Cabbagemancer is back to making one of his favorite dishes: fried cabbage. I eat this stuff for breakfast several times a week. Its like a caramelize cabbage...a little sweet, a little salty and a little fat, it's filling, and its very low calorie. You can eat a huge mound of the stuff (about 4 cups) and only take in about 200 calories. 

Plus my six year old LOVES this stuff. He's been known to pass up french toast in favor of fried cabbage. Here he is shoveling it into his mouth.

Here's what you need:

• About 4 cups of shredded or thinly sliced cabbage. 

That's about four cups, right?

• 1 small onion cut into strips
• 1/2 tablespoon of butter
• Some water for splashing into the frying cabbage to help it steam
• Salt
• Pepper
• Frying pan with a lid and something to move the cabbage around with

Here's what you do:

1. Put everything into the frying pan:  your stack of cabbage, the onion, the butter (add more if you want, butter is good), a sprinkle or three of salt, and pepper to taste. I put a lot of pepper in. And maybe a quarter cup of water.

2. Cover the pan, turn the heat up to medium-high and just let that sucker sit there. 

3. Use a spatula or something to turn the stack of cabbage over every 3 or 4 minutes so as not to burn it. The idea is brown as much of the cabbage as possible. If it starts to burn or get dry, add some more water...about a quarter cup.

4. Keep the heat going until all the cabbage is soft and slightly caramelized. This takes about 15 minutes.

And that's it. I usually serve it on a plate with two eggs over easy and a LOT of hot sauce. Or for my son I make it with less pepper

Feel free to improvise and add other veggies, as well. Thin strips of turnips go really well with this and make it even sweeter. It also goes good with leeks, bell peppers, and of course jalapeños.