Cabbage, HELP PLEASE

[NannyL]

ok, my charges are VERY good eaters... they eat pretty much everything but really are not fans of green leafy veg / salady things... cabbage / lettuce / spinache / water cress etc

(apart from that they enjoy almost every veg imaginable although are not massive fans of onion mushrooms and peppers either)

Anyway as of this week we now have a weekly organic veg box and it has in it (the most delicouse looking) savoy cabbage. (Mummy is also verkeen o ONL get our fruit and beg from here and not top up with other veg)

Does anyone know how to cok it, or is there a way that i can make it taste extra tastey?

TBH ive been there 10 months, the children are 3 and nearly 5 and never given them cabbage (yet!)

I know ill probably manage to get them to try the 1st mouthful THIS time, but not sure how the 2nd mouthful will go!

So the 'nicer' it tastes this time the better

PLEASE help...

also do i cook it in its leaves, or slice the leaves into slices!

If its of any relevance we are having chicken tomorow (defrosted SO MUST be eaten), i was gonna do it with pasta and probably a white sauce or something, but am open to suggestions.... we have pretty much all the normal cupboad ingrediants (if the cabbage will be 'nicer')

I like cabbage stir fried along with a finely sliced onion with a knob of butter, and plenty of black pepper (it's also nice with streaky bacon or pancetta fried up with it too) - and so do my children, but if they are dead set against greens you may have your work cut out however you cook it! Or you could try colcannon - which is kind of bashed up boiled potatoes (not as smooth as mashed) with shredded cooked cabbage and spring onion/leeks - lots of butter again! My two like that too.

You could stir fry it with some ginger,garlic,slug of sherry and soy.

Make stuffed vine leave type thingies with it (stuff each leaf with pork mince and flavourings then poach in stock/tomato juice.)

Steam it then serve with butter.

The finer you shred it the more acceptable it will be. I'm convinced that a lot of small kids refuse stuff because of the effort involved in chewing,not necessarily the taste.

I am a big fan of noodles (proper ones from Chinese supermarkets) and always fill the bowl with green leaves of some sort before adding the stock/hot water.

There is a receipe on the Riverford Organic website for cabbage and past bake that my kids eat.

This is dh's favourite sausage recipe:

Sausages in a nest of cabbage

Shred half a Savoy cabbage, stir-fry it for five minutes with a chopped clove of garlic and a teaspoon of dried rosemary. Remove the cabbage from the pan and add the sausages, brown them on all sides. Stir in 3/4 pint of beef stock, put a lid on the pan (or use a baking sheet) and simmer for about 20 minutes. (Dh likes a glug of red wine added at this point but that's not really any good for kids!)

Check occasionally to make sure that it isn't getting too dry - add more water/stock if it dries out.

Serve with rice.

I find a bit of carrot makes it less bitter.

I generally stir-fry it, with onions, cumin, coriander, and garam masala added at the end.

you could make a soup, with carrots, onions, bacon bits and pork stock. Blanch the cut cabbage first for a few minutes to make it less bitter. My dd (13mths) loves it. You could add little pasta to make it more fun and filling maybe.

Well we tried it stir fried in butter today and it didnt go down that well

Both DID eat a bit tho which is a start!

Thanks for all your help

my kids all eat cabbage and always have! they love all veg, but I have always just given it to them and not made a thing about eating your greens.
I either steam or fry cabbage.
I fry it with onions and sometimes bacon. Sometimes garlic and sometimes pine nuts, imo its nice if tou let it catch, so it is just a bit brown on the edges. do it slowly, so it more teams than fries and use either butter or olive oil

red wine is ok I think for cooking with the kids..the alcohol burn off

You could try it raw, sounds strange but as kids it was the only way we would eat it.

my ex was like that