Grilled Cabbage & Potato Packets
Aug 27, 2010 tagged Egg-free, Gluten-free 
Cabbage seems like a fall vegetable to me. It should be paired with corned beef or boiled with potatoes. It should be blanched, stuffed with rice and ground beef, covered with tomato sauce and steamed in the pressure cooker. That’s fall cooking in my book.
So why—in the middle of the hottest summer in 70 years—am I getting a cabbage at every CSA pick-up? What am I going to do with all that cabbage?
I can tell you what I’m not going to do. I’m not going to boil it or blanch it or steam it. My kitchen—and my hair—won’t tolerate all that heat and moisture. Nope.
You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to grill it.
The first cabbage grilling attempt: cut into quarters, brushed with oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and seared on a hot grill. Then roasted with the grill turned down to medium/medium low, lid closed, until tender. It worked well but was bland.
It needed to be jazzed up a bit. Enter the onions and new potatoes and grated pecorino romano cheese. Oh yeah. That’s what it needed.
So, go ahead, CSA. Give me more cabbage. We had this twice in one weekend and we’re ready for more.
Grilled Cabbage & Potato Packets
What you’ll need to make one packet, which is enough for 2 or 3 people as a side dish:
1/2 head of cabbage, thinly sliced
1 small red or yellow onion, thinly sliced
5 or 6 small red potatoes, sliced about 1/8 inch thick
olive oil, about 1 or 2 tablespoons total
salt and pepper
grated cheese, 1 or 2 tablespoons per layer (about 1/4 cup total)
Heat your grill.
Cut off a piece of aluminum foil—about 14-16 inches. If your foil is very thin double it. Line the foil with a piece of parchment of the same size.
You’re going to create a mound in the middle of the parchment by layering the ingredients. This should be maybe 5-6 inches wide by about 8-9 inches long.
Layer in this order (see the pictures above): cabbage, onions, potatoes. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and grated cheese. Repeat one or two more times. End with a layer of cabbage.
Wrap the parchment tightly. Wrap the aluminum foil around the parchment packet closing the top and ends tightly.
Reduce the heat of the grill to medium (use your best judgment since some grills are hotter than others). Place the packet on the grill and cook about 30 minutes turning once. You can test the potatoes by carefully (really carefully! ‘cos it’s going to be hot and steamy in there) by removing the packet from the grill and gently opening it to take a peek and test with a fork. Return to the grill if the potatoes are not soft.
Reader Comments (9)
I got cabbage from my CSA last week too (and didn't know what to do with it), and this is a great idea! Mine was a head of purple cabbage though...do you think it would still work?
Growing up, we made foilpacks of all sorts of veggies when we camped out. This combination sounds really good and although we are without a grill this summer, I may have to eat up my oven!
Tracy - The purple cabbage might turn blue when you cook it this way. I've read the way to fix that is to add an acid (lemon juice or vinegar) but I don't think that would be a good addition to this dish. So, if you don't mind blue food go ahead and try it!
Jane - I use my grill to cook full meals all the time during the summer and love to come up with various combos. I really enjoyed this one so decided to share it. It's been cooler lately so using the oven is a good alternative if you don't have a grill at the moment.
Although my farmstand has been void of cabbage of late, I've been thinking of doctoring up The Urban Vegan's halushki recipe by subbing light oil for the ridiculous amounts of butter, considerably increasing the proportion of cabbage and onions to pasta, and serving at room temperature: summer or fall!
http://a-soy-bean.blogspot.com/2010/03/hello-halushki.html
Abby - Mmmm. I'm pretty sure I'd love halushki. Thanks for bringing it to my attention--never heard of it before.
oh goodness - would love to do this one! am a fan of cabbage and there's never, ever been a potato i didn't absolutely love! i don't have a CSA and the groundhog ate the cabbage from my garden so i guess i'll have to buy some from the store - but it will be worth it!
Smith Bites - Debra, Oh no.I hope the groundhog enjoyed that cabbage. I they're kinda cute--until they mess with the veggies. Good news is the recipe will work well with a cabbage from the grocery store, too. ;-D
MMMMMMMM,...what a tasty oven dish!
I love it!
What is the CSA and why do they give you cabbage? Inquiring minds want to know. :)