What to cook with cabbage: 6 recipes

How to choose and store white cabbage

A good head of white cabbage is heavy for its size, tight and crisp, with bright, glossy outer leaves and no cracks or dark spots. Press it: it should not give. Early summer cabbage is looser and sweeter, perfect for fresh salads; firm autumn and winter cabbage suits soups and baking.

Store a whole head in the vegetable drawer, wrapped loosely in a bag: it keeps for two to three weeks or longer. Once cut, cover the cut side tightly with cling film and use it within a week; peel away a dried-out layer if needed.

Outer leaves are often dirty or tough; remove one or two and the head underneath is clean and ready to use.

Tips that make cabbage dishes better

• Salt and squeeze for slaw. Shred the cabbage finely, rub it with salt for a minute until it softens and releases juice; the salad becomes tender and juicy.
• Don't overcook it in soup. Add cabbage to shchi and borscht so that it is just tender when the soup is ready, not grey and soft.
• Shred thinly for lazy cabbage rolls so it cooks at the same pace as the rice and mince.
• Sauerkraut is a separate ingredient with its own sourness; in vinegret, squeeze it lightly and taste before adding more.

A cabbage week: what to cook

One medium head of cabbage covers several meals.

• Sunday: Russian fresh cabbage soup (shchi) for two or three days.
• Tuesday: fresh cabbage and carrot salad with cutlets or chicken.
• Thursday: lazy cabbage rolls in the oven, enough for the next day's lunch.
• Weekend: vinegret with sauerkraut.

Leftovers, kids and budget

Shchi and lazy cabbage rolls freeze well in portions. Leftover shredded cabbage can go into the next soup or be quickly stewed with onion and carrot as a side dish.

Children usually like lazy cabbage rolls much more than the classic wrapped ones: the cabbage is soft and mixed in, and the sour cream sauce is mild. Cabbage is one of the cheapest vegetables all year round, and one head feeds a family for days.