Forget avocados, olive oil or blueberries. This is the new 'super-food' doctors and chefs are recommending in 2024

Chefs are touting the next gastronomic and nutritional hit that has supplanted brussels sprouts as the new 'it' vegetable: cabbage.   

A scroll through culinary channels on social media will deliver countless clips of chefs around the world singing its praises, as it is a highly versatile vegetable that brilliant takes on the flavors used to marinate and cook it.  

Before you go to the grocery store for Memorial Day cookout essentials, consider adding the season’s hottest vegetable to your shopping list: cabbage.

This leafy vegetable when cooked on the grill takes on what chefs and dietitians call a meaty texture and charred flavor that can be enhanced with a wide variety of marinades and toppings.

But in addition from being a trendy, cabbage packs a heavy nutritional punch.

It contains fiber, half your daily allowance of vitamin K, a third of your allowance of vitamin C, and ten percent of the day’s folate.

The leafy veggie also contains trace amounts of manganese, vitamin B6, calcium, potassium, vitamin A, iron, and riboflavin.

When cooked on the grill, cabbage takes on what chefs and dietitians call a meaty texture and charred flavor that can be enhanced with a wide variety of marinades and toppings

Cabbage contains fiber, half your daily allowance of vitamin K, a third of your allowance of vitamin C, and ten percent of the day’s folate

Cabbage belongs to the cruciferous family, alongside broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens , and kale. 

All of them contain cancer fighting compounds and the power to keep inflammation in check, reducing the risk of heart problems.

The trend is good news for farmers. The total amount of cabbages harvested in 2020 was 58,600 acres, the estimated gross value per acre of fresh market is $8,630 per acre.

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Seventy-eight percent of the nation’s cabbage is produced in just five states: California, Wisconsin, New York, Florida, and Texas.

Cabbage can vary in color from green to red and purple, and leaves can be either smooth or crinkled.

According to ChefIQ: ‘Cabbage can sometimes get a bad rap. That’s mostly because when it’s overcooked, it can give off an unpleasant sulfurous smell. 

'However, when cooked correctly, like in some of our favorite Smart Cooker recipes, this veggie can add rich variety to your meals.’

In addition to reducing inflammation, cabbage contains heart healthy anthocyanins, which belong to the flavinoid family.

A 2013 study in the journal Circulation reflecting 93,600 females, researchers found that those with a higher intake of anthocyanin-rich foods had a lower risk of a heart attack.

It can also lower levels of the fatty substance that can block arteries called cholesterol. 

Soluble fiber helps lower bad cholesterol by binding with the substance in the gut too keep it from being absorbed into the blood.

It’s worth noting that eating a lot of cruciferous vegetables can cause bloating and flatulence thanks to that high fiber content.

Dietitian and chef Laura Geraty told Axios that the veggie is ‘really versatile’ and called it a ‘meaty vegetable that can be sliced into a “steak” as a main course.’

Grilling it and adding garness, such as creamy labneh or and acidic lemon juice or herb. The most popular way of eating cabbage is cole slaw, a cookout staple.

Around two cups makes a ingle serving, and contains relatively few calories, depending on how it’s served.