Making Peace With Cabbage: A Breakfast Scramble For The Win

Cabbage Breakfast Scramble

Cabbage has a bad rap for being gassy and smelly. Poor cabbage. For a long while I suffered from PTCSDD - post traumatic cabbage soup diet disorder. I would eat it for lunch, for months straight, and for dinner after coming home from dates marginally intoxicated. Yum, so yummy when drunk. I LIE! Now that I think back on it, I really wished I had the pizza but I'm making up for lost time, don't you worry. Every time I thought of cabbage, I had visions of the large Farberware pots of 2 point vegetable soup that sat in my shared twenty something refrigerator. 

Also often associated with St. Patrick’s Day boiling or the coleslaw everyone leaves behind in the diner, I want to elevate this under appreciated veggie in a new way.

When I was a wee-T my grandmother used to caramelize cabbage with bacon or pancetta and serve it over rice. Then I turned this delicious memory into boiled soup ... Here I RECLAIM MY RELATIONSHIP TO CABBAGE!

I took a small head of cabbage and used it as a base for a satisfying and sumptuous breakfast scramble. Rich in taste with a little olive oil and butter mix (again, I'm a health coach and home cook who believes in fat, butter, oil and moderation), and instead of going all in with bacon or pancetta I turned to my good friend al fresco and subbed with chicken sausage to keep this lighter in flavor and easier on the tummy. 

Served in a beautiful small antique casserole I just bought myself (yay), drizzled with olive oil, lemon zest, pecorino and another dash of red pepper - this is a breakfast for the books.

Ingredients + recipe below photo.

RECLAIM OR CLAIM, YES, CLAIM - YOUR LOVE FOR CABBAGE!

XO

Cabbage Breakfast Scramble

Ingredients

• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T. butter
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 al fresco chicken sausage, sliced or cubed *here I used the roasted garlic flavor 
• 1/2 small head of cabbage (about 3 cups), thinly sliced *you can also opt for a bag of cabbage slaw so the work is done
• 2 c. fresh spinach *optional, I had leftover
• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced *optional, I had leftovers
• 1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 4 large eggs 
• Salt
• Lemon Zest *optional, but you really should - you need lemons in your home folks! 
• Pecorino *optional, but you really should - you need pecorino in your home folks - if no other cheese at all 

Method

• Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet, adding cabbage and cooking over a medium low flame for 7-10 minutes until cabbage softens - using water, 1 tsp at a time, if more moisture is needed - and add a pinch of salt to help release some liquid as well
• Should you use the spinach and zucchini, add and cook for another 5 minutes until spinach is wilted and zucchini will start to soften 
• Add the chicken sausage to begin heating through (remember the beauty of the al fresco chicken sausages is that they are fully cooked already), along with the red pepper flakes
• Crack eggs in a bowl and scramble
• Make a well in the middle of your veggie mountain and add eggs, making a low and slow scramble
• As the eggs begin to set move them into the veggie mixture so they then coat everything in the pan, continuing to cook for 5-7 minutes
• Finish with cherry tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes 
• Serve with lemon zest, freshly grated pecorino, red pepper flakes and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil for the breakfast win 

Swaps + Notes

• Too many ingredients? Stick to the cabbage and sausage only, start there, it'll still be DELICIOUS! 
• Don't wanna low and slow scramble? Once you cook cabbage, optional veggies and chicken sausage, you can transfer to an oven proof dish, add eggs, bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes (or until set) and serve as a breakfast casserole!
• Vegan or Vegetarian? Omit sausage/eggs/cheese + sauté with small cubes of butternut squash, turnip or sweet potato + tofu for the ultimate breakfast veggie scramble