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This is the season to enjoy cabbage: it’s cheap and the quality is at its best. Cabbage is a member of the Brassica family, one that is well known for is cancer fighting arsenal. Red or green, Napa, Chinese or Savoy – they’re all chock full of anti-cancer compounds.
Add cabbage to soups and salads or savour it roasted or in a stir-fry.
There’s also the amazing cabbage rolls in a sweet and sour tomato sauce I remember my mother making.
Here’s a delicious combo you’ll love from my book, The Enlightened Eater’s Whole Foods Guide (Viking Canada).
Roasted Sesame Cabbage and Onions
Serves 4
8 cups (2 L) sliced (1/4-inch/ 0.5 cm thick) cabbage (about 1/2 half a cabbage)
2 cups (500 mL) thinly sliced onions
1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
Non-stick vegetable Oil cooking spray
1 tbsp (15 mL) mirin (Japanese rice wine)
1 1/2 tbsp (22 mL) sodium-reduced soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) sesame oil
2 tbsp (25 mL) rice wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 425°F/ 220°C. Combine cabbage and onion in large bowl. Add vegetable oil; toss to coat. Spread onto a large or 2 medium baking sheets sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray. and roast for 15 minutes. Using spatula, move cabbage slices from centre of pan towards outside to ensure that the slices are evenly roasted. Bake another 10 to 15 minutes or until edges of cabbage are browned.
Place cabbage in a large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over cabbage; toss and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Serve hot or cold.
Nutritional information per serving
• Calories: 114
• Protein: 3 g
• Fat: 6 g
• Saturated fat: 1 g
• Carbohydrate: 14 g
• Dietary fibre: 5 g
• Sodium: 234 mg
Enlightened Eater 
I love this recipe! I have made it twice, and it’s delicious. I have two questions: 1) can it be frozen? 2) where can I buy mirin ? I’ve omitted it both times….
Thanks for the feedback, Roslyn! I’m thrilled to hear that you think it’s delicious. As for freezing it, I’ve never tried it. It doesn’t last long enough. I keep leftovers in the fridge and love to snack on it. I think the texture would not be affected by freezing, though but it might not be as flavourful. You might want to add the Asian dressing afterwards. As for the mirin, supermarkets usually carry it in the same section as they do rice vinegars and soy sauce. If you can’t find it there, you might look for an Asian market.