Colorful and delicious, purple cabbage can also be served as a salad, perhaps enriched with other fresh and equally colorful vegetables that will make this very simple recipe even more inviting and scenic. The purple cabbage salad is a side dish that is completely vegetarian, gluten-free and lactose-free, to be eaten cold, very tasty and tempting, which can be paired with fried foods (like chips), boiled or grilled meat and fish, or used as a filling for tasty and rich sandwiches. The purple cabbage salad can be customized to suit your tastes.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 2.65 oz.
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter and Spring
Ingredients
- 1.1 lbs purple cabbage
- 2 carrots
- to taste chopped parsley or fresh chives
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 stalk celery
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste fine salt
- 3.4 fl oz dry red wine
Steps
The presence of wine in this recipe is necessary because purple cabbage turns green when in contact with boiling water, which is not aesthetically pleasing. However, the presence of an acid (be it wine or vinegar, or both) prevents this phenomenon, preserving the cabbage’s color, aroma, and flavor.
All the alcohol in the wine will evaporate during cooking.
1) Remove the outer leaves if they are too tough, damaged, ruined, and inedible. With a sharp knife, slice the purple cabbage very thinly (a bit like sauerkraut) and then halve the slices if they are too large. Remove the central white stem from the “slices” of cabbage as it is inedible.
2) Transfer everything to a basin and wash it well; then let it drain the excess water.
Meanwhile, bring some water to boil in a large pot. Do not fill the pot completely; the water should only just cover the purple cabbage.
3) When the water is almost boiling, salt it, let it return to boiling, and add first the wine and then the purple cabbage afterward. Stir well, cover, and let the cabbage simmer for about 14 minutes on a medium flame, without a lid, on the small burner.
4) At the end of cooking, the purple cabbage will retain a firm, not mushy, consistency. Turn off the heat and immediately and thoroughly drain the cooked cabbage and let it cool completely.
5) Once it’s cold, season it with a clove of garlic, without the inner sprout, finely chopped, the peeled and thinly sliced carrots and celery stalk; finally, finely chopped fresh parsley or fresh chives (as I did) and extra virgin olive oil.
Mix well, taste, and adjust the salt if necessary, as purple cabbage is rather sweet; serve it, or let our purple cabbage salad marinate further.
Leftovers of this tasty side dish should be stored in a well-sealed container in the fridge for at least two days.
Extra idea. If you want to give it an extra touch, a more intense flavor, also add apple cider vinegar during cooking, along with the wine (2-3 tablespoons are more than enough, depending on personal taste).
Bon appetit
