Smothered Cabbage with Ham

 I have to say that, next to potatoes, cabbage is one of my favourite vegetables. I come by this love honestly. It is something which my mother cooked for us fairly often. Admittedly not as often as she would have liked to, as my father was not overly fond. 

He did not mind the flavour that it imparted into things like stews and such, but he was not fond of the vegetable itself. This worked well for me, actually as he would just give me his cabbage to eat, which I did not  mind one little bit.

My mom used to make lovely cabbage rolls. She would wrap up ground beef and onion in cabbage leaves and simmer them in a large pot with peeled potatoes, carrots and canned tomatoes.

My father loved the meat in them. I did not, but I loved the cabbage.  We would swap. My meat for his cabbage.

So this recipe makes four servings instead of 8. Which is still quite a lot, but when you love cabbage as much as I do, I know that I will really enjoy the leftovers.

Maybe even moreso than the original recipe. Cabbage is one of those vegetables I find that tastes even better reheated the day after.  Or maybe I am just so in love with this vegetable that it doesn’t matter when I eat it!

 What I loved about this dish is that it is combined with my other favourite vegetable. The humble potato.  But not in such a high quantity that it messes with my carbs. As a diabetic I do have to watch my carb intake.

But with there only being one baking potato in the dish, divided between four people, its not a huge problem. This means that I get a little taste of potato without the risk of going over the top!

 And if you love potatoes as much as I do, there is a real risk of going over the top.  Dishes like this are perfect for me. 

I loved the addition of the ham to this. It gives a bit of smokiness which goes very well with cabbage.  There isn’t a lot of it. I had a chunk of ham in the freezer leftover from Easter. (Don’t judge me, lol)

You could use thick sliced boiled ham from the shops or even a chopped up ham steak if you wanted to. You just want a bit of smokiness.  

It also uses an onion and some garlic.  You begin by sauteeing the onion in  a bit of oil. I cut the amount of oil way down.

 Most recipes call for far too much oil. Even Eating Well recipes. I have always cut back on the amount without any problem. I also used light olive oil rather than canola oil. 

I had a medium sized cabbage in the refrigerator that needed using up.  I used about half of it which means that I have another half to get rid of before next Friday. Maybe I will make my favourite dish, Noodles and Cabbage to enjoy!

 Back to this one.  Its simple and quick to make and very delicious. You could jazz it up a bit if you wanted to, by adding some chili flakes, but I’ll be honest it is pretty perfect just as it is. 

I have posted a lot of cabbage recipes on here through the years that you might enjoy. Creamed Cabbage is really lovely. Tender pieces of cabbage baked to perfection in a lush cream sauce. 

Another favourite is Cabbage and Tomato Soup.  Cabbage and tomatoes have a wonderful affinity for each other.

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The English Kitchen
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