Sauteed Cabbage with Chicken Sausage and Mustard

This dish is bangin, at least as bangin as cabbage can be. We all think of Charlie Bucket eating cabbage water on “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, right? This sauteed cabbage with chicken sausage and mustard is far from that. Lots of flavor from vegetables and whole grain mustard and then some of that yummy chicken and apple sausage you see at the grocery but have no idea what to do with it. Well folks, this is what you do with it.

Veggies galore!

Start with a bag of shredded cabbage from the bagged salad section at your grocery store. You are welcome to chop up the cabbage yourself, it’s totally up to you. And it’s cheaper. But if you are going for time-saving, go for the bagged stuff. You will need two bags because cabbage cooks waaaay down. When it comes to vegetables, I use red onion and red bell pepper, but you can use whatever you have. Carrots, celery, leeks, green bell peppers. The flavor power of vegetables is always underestimated, so don’t skip sauteing some vegetables. Just choose what sounds good to you or what you have.

“Mustard? Don’t let’s be silly!”

100 points to you if you know what movie that line is from. The next flavor we add is whole grain mustard. A few big squeezes adds the perfect punch of acid. And the mustard seeds are a nice texture bonus. I have made this with just adding dried mustard seeds and it isn’t the same. The seeds are still hard and don’t cok long enough. So they are crunchy, and not in a good way. So if you don’t have whole grain mustard, don’t just sub in mustard seeds. Use dijon or yellow mustard.

Chicken and Apple Sausage

I use Aidells chicken and apple sausage in this recipe. And I have bought a giant pack of another brand at Costco before. These sausages are great to keep in the freezer. They keep for a long time and defrost quickly. I have found though, as convenient as these sausages are, it’s tricky to find a way to use them. This dish is one way I have found to use it. On the side, I like serving garlic bread or a garlic rice pilaf. Basically, a solid carb meal.

You probably are wondering how my kids take this...

They surprisingly like it. And I think it’s because the cabbage isn’t steamed or boiled. Boiled cabbage can be slimy. With this dish, we are only sauteing and we can because it is shredded and will cook enough. The bigger the cuts of cabbage, the longer the cooking time, thus boiling and steaming become essential. So I think my kids like this dish because the cabbage is shredded instead of chopped.

Notes on preparation

• This sauteed cabbage with chicken sausage and mustard does great being prepared ahead of time. Like I can make this in the afternoon before running kids around town to various activities. And then it’s ready to be quickly reheated and served for dinner. Man it feels good to have dinner ready to go instead of worrying about it all afternoon!
• Want to try a different way to serve this? Pile it into sandwich rolls or hot dog buns. It’s reminiscent of sauerkraut and brats. This might be a good way to get your family on board.

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