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.