Cabbage is a great vegetable because it’s so versatile, inexpensive, and stays fresh a long time (good for someone like me who buys vegetables every two weeks or less); there are so many things you can do with it! I’m making colcannon for lunch today, and thought it would be a good time to share this frugal and tasty recipe.
Colcannon
- 4 c. green cabbage, chopped
- 2 c. water
- 1 T. oil
Simmer chopped green cabbage in 2 c. water and 1 T. oil. Drain.
- 1 c. onions or leeks, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
- 1/2 c. butter
- 4 c. cooked potatoes, quartered (can be baked or boiled – I boil them because it’s faster)
- 1 c. milk (I use raw)
- salt, pepper to taste
Saute the onions or leeks in butter (add garlic now if you’re using it) until translucent. Add cooked potatoes and milk to the potato mix and simmer it all until it’s warm. Then mash it all together, and add the cooked cabbage to the pot with the potato mixture and heat for a few minutes until its thoroughly warmed through. Mix it all together, season with salt and pepper and top with some more butter if you like. Filled with protein, carbs, healthy fats, and veggies – a balanced meal and cheap to boot!
(This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday.)
Avivah
I don’t know the details of your religion and food, but when I make this type of dish, I put in a little chicken “Better than bouillon” seasoning with the water and I cook it in my large cast iron skillet. Very yummy!
have you ever made colcannon with kale? i’ve been wanting to try that.
Hi, Amy, welcome and thanks for your comment! I try to avoid using processed foods so I don’t use bouillon, but there’s no religious reason for me not to. 🙂
Jenna, in the past I haven’t used much kale, but now that I have some growing in my spring garden, I’ll have to remember to try your suggestion to use it for this recipe!
Avivah, this recipe sounds delicious! We live in the mountains, and our neighbor grows the best cabbage in the fall. (Yes, it’s true that mountain cabbage is the best!) Some of his cabbages are literally as big as basketballs, and they are so crisp and juicy. They would be great in your recipe. I do have a few questions – do you add the cooked potatoes to the onion mixture and then warm all of that together? And I’m assuming your method of cooking the potatoes is to boil them? Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Hi, Trish! Your neighbor’s cabbages sound like the ones I got a couple of days ago – every once in a while a local Amish or Mennonite farmer will sell his overstock to the small grocery that I shop at. They were massive – way bigger than the usual cabbages you see in the store. If I had bought directly from the farmer I’d have asked what he did to make them grow like that!
The potatoes are cooked either by baking or boiling, and yes, everything gets warmed up together. Thanks for bringing up instructions that weren’t clear to my attention; I’ll edit the post to clarify.
Hi Avivah,
I was just wondering… what do you do to check the cabbage for bugs? Do you separate each leaf or something?
Thanks,
Shira
Shira, here’s a post for more info – http://oceansofjoy.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/checking-vegetables-for-insects/.
Thanks for the heads up about the idea for colcannon. Ever since you included that in your menu plan one week, I googled it and incorporated it into our family’s mealplan, passover or not. Its on my passover menu this year as well.
I sometimes put purple cabbage or swiss chard into my colcannon as well as green cabbage. Its absolutely delicious and gets inhaled quickly!