Fried Cabbage with Bacon

April 2040. Lisa has started painting. She mentioned it once in the winter — that she'd been thinking about it, that she'd taken a class years ago and always intended to continue — and then last month she enrolled in a studio class on Thursday evenings. Now there are canvases leaning against the wall in the spare bedroom and the smell of oil paint has joined the smell of food in our house and I find both smells, together, to be the specific smell of a life being fully used.

She paints landscapes mostly — mountains, the Front Range from the east, the flat light over the plains. She paints the way she does everything: carefully, with patience, without rushing toward a conclusion. She showed me a painting last week that was, I thought, excellent — a dark blue sky over the mountains with light on the high peaks that she said she'd been trying to get right for three months. I said: it's right. She said: it's close. I said: what's the difference? She said: I'll know it when it's right. I said: I know that feeling. She said: you do. That's exactly how you felt about the mole negro.

We have both, in other words, found projects. Things we're working toward in the retirement years that are genuinely ours — not maintenance of what we've built, but building. I didn't fully believe this would happen before it did. I knew it intellectually: retired people build things. But living it is different from knowing it. We are sixty years old and we are building things and the house is full of canvases and books and the smell of birria and oil paint and we are, I will say it out loud, happy.

The birria has been the long project — the one I’ve chased the way Lisa chases the light on those high peaks — but not every meal in a happy house is the masterpiece. Some nights, while a braise is doing its slow work, you need something quick in a skillet that fills the kitchen with its own honest smell. This fried cabbage with bacon has become that dish for us: nothing complicated, nothing that demands your full attention, just something warm and real to put on the table while the bigger thing simmers.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

6 strips thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium head green cabbage (about 2 lbs), cored and roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar

Instructions

Cook the bacon. In a large, heavy skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon pieces until crisp and the fat has rendered, about 8–10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate. Leave about 2 tablespoons of drippings in the pan.
Soften the onion. Add the sliced onion to the skillet with the bacon drippings. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to turn golden, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic and spices. Add the minced garlic, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes. Stir and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add the cabbage. Add the chopped cabbage to the skillet in large handfuls, stirring to coat with the drippings and spices. It will seem like a lot — keep folding it in. Season with salt and black pepper.
Cook until tender. Cover the skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring every few minutes, until the cabbage is wilted and tender with some caramelized edges, about 12–15 minutes.
Finish and serve. Stir in the apple cider vinegar and sugar. Taste and adjust seasoning. Return the crispy bacon to the skillet, toss to combine, and serve immediately straight from the pan.

Nutrition (per serving)

Fried Cabbage with Bacon — The Side Dish That Fills a Happy House