Crockpot Red Cabbage and Onions

This colorful side dish for Crockpot Red Cabbage and Onions pairs perfectly with Apple Pork Chops or any simple pork chop recipe. You could add a chopped apple to this mixture if you'd like.

I love red cabbage; it is sweeter than green (or white) cabbage and has such a beautiful color, even after it's cooked. You can find cabbage year-round at the grocery store. It's such an expensive vegetable, and it's so good for you.

Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable, which means it belongs to the same family as broccoli and cauliflower. These veggies have lots of cancer-fighting nutrients. Red cabbage has special compounds called anthocyanins. The beautiful color of cabbage is provided by that compound; it is a powerful antioxidant too. Cabbage is also very high in fiber and glucosinolates and is very low in sodium, with almost no fat.

To prepare a head of cabbage, first, rinse it under cool running water. Then, using a sharp butcher's knife, cut the cabbage in half through the stem. Cut the stem and surrounding thick leaves out of both halves. Then turn the cabbage cut-side down and slice. Cut the slices to form pieces that are about 1/2" square.

Red onion is another healthy vegetable. It is sweeter than yellow onions and can be found in most produce departments. Its shelf life isn't as long as yellow or white onions, so use it within a week.

You can double this recipe if you'd like; just use a larger slow cooker. Remember to always fill crockpots 1/2 to 3/4 full for best results. If there isn't enough food in a crockpot, the food may overcook and burn. If it's too full, the food may not cook in the allotted time, or it may overflow the appliance. Remember that foods have water that leaches out during cooking, and there's no evaporation in a slow cooker.