Mloda Kapusta Young Cabbage with Dill

Name: Mloda Kapusta Young Cabbage with Dill
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: Spring white cabbage; Lean turkey mince; Onion; Fresh dill; Salt; Black pepper; Water; Potato starch; Caster sugar

Mloda Kapusta Young Cabbage with Dill, plated as one serving.

113 kcal a serving, against 232 for the traditional version. That is 119 kcal off, or 51%, with 7g of protein. Serves 4. 40 minutes.

What the traditional version is

Spring cabbage braised with a heap of butter, smoked bacon or lardons, onion and a mountain of fresh dill. Finished with a pinch of sugar and sometimes soured cream. Served as a side or - if you're honest with yourself - as the main event on a Tuesday.

What changed, and what each change costs

Smoked bacon and butter swapped for a small amount of turkey bacon

Bacon and butter make up most of the calories and all the fat. Turkey bacon lets you keep just enough smoke and salt that it still tastes like the real thing, while ditching the worst of the grease.

What it costs you. The bacon's a whisper rather than a shout, and you won't get that big silky gloss from the butter. If you want a treat, you'll miss the crispy bits at the bottom of the pan.

No butter or soured cream, potato starch used to thicken

With the butter out, you lose the body in the sauce. A little potato starch gives you a thicker, silkier finish, so it coats the cabbage without half a block of butter hiding in the bottom.

What it costs you. There's no buttery aroma, and the finish isn't as rich. You don't get the dairy tang, so it's all about the cabbage and dill. If that's not enough, you might want to look away now.

Loads more dill, less sugar

Bulking up on dill and cutting down on sugar makes it fresher and greener, not sticky and sweet. It keeps the springtime feel of the dish and gives you something to bite into.

What it costs you. If you don't love dill, you're in trouble. The sweetness is way down, so it's not as comforting as grandma's, but it's a fair price for feeling less sluggish after lunch.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Spring white cabbage
Lean turkey mince
Onion
Fresh dill
Salt
Black pepper
Water
Potato starch
Caster sugar

How it starts

Chop the cabbage into ribbons just thicker than a pound coin.
Heat a big frying pan or wide pot over medium heat.
Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it's soft but not brown.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Polish.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	232	113
Protein	9.4g	7g
Fat	14.4g	1.7g
Saturated fat	8.2g	0.5g
Carbohydrate	19.5g	20.1g
Protein per 100 kcal	4.1g	6.2g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Polish prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

The method is in the book

The truth: it's never going to taste as good as the full bacon-and-butter original. But you do get something fresh, green and properly spring-like. With more dill and less grease, you can eat a proper serving for lunch and not spend the rest of the day picking at your teeth. If you want the real punch of bacon and a buttery sheen, go make grandma's and don't tell your GP. It isn't Sunday lunch, it's the Thursday-night version, but that's still a win in my book.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Polish, along with 53 more. Buy the paperback