I can’t grow brassicas to save my life but I love eating them. I don’t think I’ve met a brassica I don’t like. Happily they are also super good for you. I grew up in a household which didn’t eat much cabbage – which means that at least one of my parents doesn’t like it. That’s a shame, because, in addition to being much loved by those enjoying cabbage soup diets, cabbage is rich in all sorts of nutritional goodies, such as beta carotene, vitamin C and, of course, fibre. It will also provide you with a few B group vitamins and plenty of trace minerals.

My cabbage recipe shows you how to turn the humble white cabbage into a tasty side dish (that’s if you don’t like eating it raw, which I do). Having just eaten the leftovers as a snack, I can also vouch for it cold!

White cabbage is also insanely cheap at the moment – I picked up the quarter I used in this dish for just $1.

Begin by heating a small amount of olive oil in a large frying pan – preferably one for which you have a lid. Add two rashers of bacon, chopped into reasonable, yet still bite sized, pieces. Fry the bacon – there’s not much point in letting it get crispy because you are effectively going to steam the cabbage – so just fry it off until it just starts to catch in the pan.

Add a teaspoon of caraway seeds* and fry for 30 seconds or so before adding a quarter of a white cabbage, finely shredded. There will probably be a couple of very thick pieces of cabbage – I take those out (and eat them) because they take just a little too long to soften.

Now add a splash of water, scrape up the bacon (and any tasty brown bits on the pan), turn the cabbage over a couple of times and then cover to allow the cabbage to steam.

Don’t allow it to cook for too long – you don’t want it all mushy and lifeless.

Serve with, well, whatever you fancy really. I’d eat it by itself, most recently we had it pork chops.

* Technically they are fruits. If you haven’t used caraway before, it is quite strongly anise flavoured (and scented) so consider starting with half a teaspoon if that’s not normally your thing.