It’s well documented on this blog that the only things that scoff our cabbages with gusto are the pigeons, the slugs and the caterpillars. In that order. The humans of the household need a little more persuasion.
The problem is, it’s one of the few things I can actually grow…
I’ve come up with some ingenious ways with cabbage to make it more inviting to the family, from sauteeing with chopped onions after steaming, to actually hiding it in the mash and calling it ‘bubble and squeak’.
Presently we have a whole patch of cabbages that need to be eaten. For one, I’ve earmarked the spot they are in with a polytunnel, and for two I am tired of picking caterpillars off on a daily basis. So yesterday I decided to make soup.
A quick rustle around the garden produced six very small onions that were drying in the shed, a couple of cloves of garlic, a whole savoy cabbage and some cherry tomatoes that were ready.
After a thorough wash, I chopped it all up and popped it in my soup maker – I also sprinkled some chilli flakes in for good measure, added a beef stock cube, chucked a bit of salt and pepper in the top and topped up with water to 1400 ml. Half an hour later the beeper told me it was done. A quick blend on the liquidiser mode, and there you have it – free lunch for a week. It actually tastes pretty good too.
I persuaded the other half to try it, and he wrinkled his nose, commenting, “It tastes… healthy“.
I realised I was on my own for this cabbage-chomping marathon, but consoled myself with the thought that if the rumours about cabbage soup are true, I’d surely be a Size 8 by the weekend.
There may however be an unwelcome side effect. I’ll have no-one else to blame fo the inevitable ‘quilt ripping’ that will surely follow…
