Balsamic-Braised Red Cabbage

Winter is the season for braising: braising in wine, braising in cider — okay, maybe that was fall, but you catch my drift. Braising turns tough meats and vegetables into soft puddles of awesome, and with the long cooking time this method generally requires, doubles as extra heating in your apartment!

But I had no idea braising could do this. Turn a self-proclaimed cabbage abhorrer (that’s right, I pulled out an SAT word) into someone that readily had seconds and thirds and was sad when there was no more. Turned someone who would rather eat anything in the world than cab-bage, which she pronounced in an annoying pseudo-French way like gar-bage, just to enhance the similarities between the two.

Maybe it was the addition of bacon, maple bacon to be exact. Is there anything on earth better than that? Maybe it was the simmer in balsamic vinegar or the Dijon mustard swirled in or the fact that this recipe is the easiest thing in the world. Or maybe it was just time for me to embrace the “fake lettuce,” as I sometimes call it. After all, what is cabbage if not overgrown brussels sprouts, and haven’t I already explained how much I love those?

Balsamic-Braised Red Cabbage
Adapted from Claire Robinson

Like with the Ginger Pumpkin Tart I made for Thanksgiving, this recipe has more than 5 ingredients. But it’s so delicious that I’ll ignore that. Also, Keith found this recipe in the 5-Ingredient cookbook he got for Christmas, and the directions are slightly different from the online version. I’m posting what we did (including tweaks) below.

– 4 slices maple bacon

– 1 small shallot, diced

– 1 clove garlic, minced

– 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

– 1 small head red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

– 1 cup chicken stock

– 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

– salt and pepper, to taste

1) Cook the bacon in a large pot until crisp. Remove the bacon and all but two tablespoons of the fat. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until slightly browned.

2) Add the balsamic vinegar, scraping the pan to release any browned bits. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, then add the cabbage and toss to coat slightly. Add the mustard, stock, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is soft.

3) Remove the lid and cook on medium heat to evaporate some of the liquid, 5-10 minutes. Top with the crumbled bacon and try to remember why you ever hated cabbage in the first place.

Again, sorry for the lack of pictures. I won’t make that mistake the next time, I promise. Note (from 1/27/13): The pictures in the original post were so horrifyingly bad that I swapped them out for nicer ones. You’re welcome.

[print recipe in PDF form]