Sautéed Cabbage with Leeks & Seeds

Creating (and loving) this recipe for sautéed cabbage with leeks & seeds helped me realize that I really need more veggies in my life.

I'm sure a lot of us could say that with 100% conviction. I mean, let's face it, is there a downside to eating more vegetables? No. No, there's not. Who's going to enjoy a bite of expertly-prepared veggies and say "this tastes amazing, but I really don't need more essential vitamins and minerals in my life. Pass."

No one, that's who.

Readers of this blog and social media followers have an idea of how I eat, and hopefully they have an idea of my approach to a paleo template. Most people in the paleo community recognize that you can eat strict paleo but still be pretty unhealthy...eating just meat for every meal will probably leave you missing some essential stuff.

Some people I know IRL (in real life) assume that I eat super healthy, beautiful meals 100% of the time. Really, many of my meals are last minute (I could be a bit better at meal planning and prepping) and many experiments don't turn out but I eat them anyway.

Well, lately I've realized that I've been eating less vegetables simply because they're not prepped in advance. That's a problem for me and I've renewed an effort to increase the vegetables on my plate.

As a result, you'll hopefully be seeing more vegetable and side dish recipes on here, starting with this sautéed cabbage with leeks & seeds recipe.

Cabbage has to be one of my favorite vegetables. It's cheap, and a single head of cabbage makes a ton of food. Plus, it's versatile — you can eat it raw, sauté it, roast it, make sauerkraut. With one head of cabbage, I made 2 batches of this recipe and a giant jar of sauerkraut. Considering how tight my budget is due to my mate's hospital bills, cabbage is quickly becoming a go-to veggie.

This recipe adds in leeks, fennel seeds, sesame seeds and cumin seeds for a unique and refreshing flavor. You can use green or purple cabbage, but obviously using purple cabbage results in the best presentation.

I'm thrilled that I got the idea to combine fennel seeds with cabbage, because the combo rocks. If you've never tasted fennel before, it has a licorice-like flavor. Typically, I use it for homemade sausage — it's an absolute must for perfectly flavored sausage. In this sautéed cabbage recipe, the cumin and sesame seeds help tone down the fennel, but that unique flavor is still present. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I have!

📖 Recipe

Cabbage with Leeks & Seeds

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Ingredients

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• 4-5 cups cabbage (a quarter of a large head)
• ¼ c olive oil
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• 1 small-medium onion (about ½ cup), peeled and cut lengthwise into fine half rings
• ½ cup leeks, finely sliced
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ Tb lemon juice

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Instructions

1. Cut the cabbage head into quarters and core the sections. Cut each section into fine, long shreds.
2. Heat the oil in a wide, preferably cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cumin, fennel, and sesame seeds. Once the sesame seeds begin to pop, put in the onion. Stir and fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until the onion has browned a bit.
3. Put in the cabbage and leeks. Stir and fry for about 6 minutes or until the cabbage has browned somewhat. Add the salt. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring now and then, for another 7 to 8 minutes or until the onions appear caramelized and soft. Note: you may need to do this in a couple batches.
4. Add the lemon juice and stir.

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