Cabbages Are Kings

Cabbage is perhaps not the sexiest of vegetables, but it packs a nutritional and taste punch. Here we revisit one of Meg’s favourite winter vegetables.

- Meg Thompson

There are a number of different cabbage varieties to choose from. Traditional green cabbage has a stronger, more peppery flavour when eaten raw, with quite robust leaves. Red cabbage brings all the colour to the plate, along with a slightly earthier flavour than the green. Savoy is the supermodel of the group, with its super-crinkled and mild, tender leaves. Chinese, or wombok cabbage has a longer, oblong shape, yellowy-green leaves, and a mild, almost sweet flavour.

Cabbage in your body

A proud member of the brassica family, cabbage carries similar benefits to its cruciferous sisters, with some seriously fantastic specialties. It contains a great dose of fibre, immune-boosting nutrients, has major gut-healing action, antioxidant properties, antibacterial activity, promotes regulated blood sugar, and helps you to feel cool, calm and collected.

First up, cabbage boasts a lovely amount of fibre, helping to keep your digestive system happy, and promoting liver detoxification. That is perfect for this time of the year, when the weather is cooler and you may need some extra digestive and liver assistance to help with tendencies for richer, heavier foods.

Cabbage also contains a number of nutrients that are particularly helpful to the immune system. Vitamins A and C, quercetin, and a number of flavonoids, especially anthocyanins, make it a strong antioxidant and also highly anti-inflammatory — just the thing to help ward off the latest lurgy.