Health Benefits of Cabbage
Cabbage is part of the cruciferous family of vegetables, making it one the healthiest. Cruciferous vegetables, like cabbage, contain the largest concentration of phytonutrients, which supports the livers ability to neutralize toxins. That means is cabbage is a great food to use daily for detoxification.
And Red Cabbage has 6 times more antioxidants that Green and is more flavorful. It’s very low in calories at only 44 calories per cup.
Red cabbage is a very good source of Vitamin K, great for bone health, and Vitamin C for antioxidant protection. Also known to have anti-inflammatory compounds which are great for aches and pains, and it promotes heart health by lowering cholesterol. You can thank the high fiber content for that. And this goes for both raw and cooked cabbage.
When cooking red cabbage you should add lemon juice to maintain it’s rich color.
Cabbage is available year round, but is at its peak in fall and winter months. Once purchased, store no longer than 14 days. And once cut; keep no longer than 5 days to preserve the vitamins and minerals.
Preparing cabbage is so easy. Just rinse the outside then remove the outer leaves. No need to rinse once cut since the inside has not been exposed to the outside environment.
If you’re going to cook cabbage, the key is to cook for short periods of time. If you’ve ever had cabbage that smelled like sulfur or tasted bitter, this is caused by too long a cook time. To avoid that rotten egg smell, cook for only 5 minutes. You can use broth or water. Reserve the oil to top with it once cooked.
After lightly cooking your cabbage, sprinkle with olive oil, lemon juice, or gluten free Tamari sauce. Even balsamic vinegar is a good choice. You can also mix it with Dijon mustard and caraway seeds.
You can use cabbage leaves as wraps for burritos, tacos, tuna salad, or use the leaves as scoops for dips at parties.
Lastly use finely shredded raw cabbage in places you would use lettuce, like tacos. Top soups with it to give it a crunch, or mix in with fajitas or enchiladas.
For a super easy really tasty coleslaw check out my video below.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/hbkTobk7_T8[/youtube]
