Braised apple 'n' bacon cabbage

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PREP TIME

10 min

Makes

7 to 8 servings

* PLUS Cooking time: 27 minutes

Ingredients

1 medium red cabbage
2 large apples , such as Spy or McIntosh
2 onions
2 slices of bacon
284-mL can undiluted chicken broth , or 1 1/4 cups chicken bouillon
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves , optional

Instructions

Discard any discoloured or damaged outer leaves, then cut cabbage into quarters. Discard core from each piece. Slice cabbage quarters into thin strips. They will measure about 11 cups (2.75 L). Peel and core apples, then finely chop. Slice onions in half. Place cut-side down on a cutting board and slice into thin strips. Stack bacon strips, then slice into 1/2-inch- (1-cm-) wide pieces.
Set a large wide saucepan over medium heat. Add apples, onions and bacon. Cook, stirring often, just until apples and onions begin to soften and bacon starts to brown, from 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in broth, vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir in cabbage and bay leaves. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is done as you like and most of liquid is absorbed, from 25 to 45 minutes. (If you like cabbage crunchy, test for doneness after 20 minutes.) Remove from heat. Discard bay leaves. Taste, then sprinkle with thyme, if you like, and stir in. (We added thyme at the end of cooking because we liked its punch of flavour.) Serve immediately. Cabbage will keep well, covered and refrigerated, up to 3 days. Great with pork or lamb.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories
118,
Protein
3.7 g,
Carbohydrates
18.7 g,
Fat
4.1 g,
Fibre
4.2 g,
Sodium
718 mg.

One of the most underrated autumn vegetables, cabbage has good doses of fibre and vitamin C and tastes great cooked with sweet apples and a few strips of smoky bacon. The taste is even better the next day after all of the flavours have blended.

Make it your own

Instead of thyme, you can cook caraway seeds, celery seeds or dill seeds with cabbage. Chopped fresh dill is also delicious added to the cooked cabbage.

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