Leeks and Cabbage

I am continually trying to expand my repertoire of foods I consume. I first have to find foods and then find or create recipes for those foods. Since finding/creating recipes is so time consuming, I don't do it very often and I typically stick to my tried-and-true favorites. But once in a while Pineapple and I concoct a hit.

One week I bought a bundle of 3 large leeks. They sat in the fridge all week, and rather than letting them go to waste, I decided to just chop them up and saute them, just to see how they would turn out. I brought the final creation to Pineapple for her stamp of approval and she said, "They're okay...But they would be awesome with cabbage...And amazing with bacon!"

Alright, challenge accepted!

So the next time I tried cooking the leeks with cabbage while also baking up some bacon. The results were fantastic, and so I prepare this dish every couple of weeks.

Tools

• Wok or Large Pan
• Mandoline (optional)
• Large Knife
• Cutting Board

Ingredients

• 2-3 Leeks
• 1/4 Green Cabbage (red also works, but green tends to be sweeter)
• Oil (I prefer olive oil)
• Salt

Directions

1. Cut up the white portion of the leeks
1. Rinse the leeks
2. Cut off and throw away the roots
3. Use the mandoline (or knife) to slice the white portion of the leeks into thin disks
4. Cut the disks in half or thirds, depending on the size of leek chunks you want
2. Add oil to the wok/pan
1. I find 2-4 tablespoons of oil is good; leeks tend to absorb a fair amount of oil, so add more oil later if you think it is necessary
3. Heat the wok/pan on medium heat 
4. Add the leeks to the wok/pan
1. They should sizzle without spattering
5. Stir occasionally
1. By the end of cooking, you should get some carmelization (browning) on some leeks
6. Cut up the green portion of the leeks
1. Carefully separate each green leaf and rinse it (they tend to have dirt in them)
2. Slice the green potion of the leeks into strips about as wide as what was done on the white portion of the leeks
3. Then slice the strips on the diagonal so you get chunks about the same size as the white portion (you can cut perpendicularly to your first cuts, but I find diagonally is easier to manage)
7. Add the green portion of the leeks to the wok/pan
1. Mix them in and continue stirring occasionally
8. Chop the cabbage into small chunks about the same size as the leek chunks
9. Add the cabbage to the wok/pan
10. Continue stirring occasionally
11. When the leeks appear to be done, and the cabbage still has some crunch to it, serve and enjoy!
12. Salt as desired (it's easy to overdo the salt, so I just let people salt it to taste)

Note: I currently do not mix the bacon with the leeks and cabbage because I like to keep bacon crispy. But you can do whatever you would like.