It’s good warm or cold.  It’s both summery and wintery at the same time.  Fruity and earthy. Enough for a crowd or leftovers for the week.  I have a yellowed recipe clipping from the Star Tribune.  I’m guessing from around 2007 when I had my own studio apartment and I felt very grown-up having my own newspaper delivered.  I’ve modified it only a little over the years and realized that it is easy to modify and hard to screw up.

I start by toasting 1T whole black peppercorns in a dry pan and then roughly crushing them in my mortar and pestle.   This is a key step.  The black pepper really comes through even days later and it makes a difference.

~1-2T vegetable oil & 1 diced yellow onion in a deep skillet on medium heat until the onions are just soft.
Add the crushed peppercorns.
Add diced/squared red cabbage (I just use a whole head cut like I do an onion only bigger, the recipe says 3 cups of 1 inch squares).  Stir thoroughly.  I like to sprinkle in some salt here.

Add about 3-5T of vinegars.  The recipe is 2T of balsamic and 2T of red wine vinegar.  I’ve done some apple cider vinegar.  I may have used brown rice vinegar in the past.  Balsamic is a good choice though.  Let it all fry away until the cabbage is starting to wilt.

Add blueberries and dried cranberries.  The blueberries can be fresh or frozen.  Try to add more blueberries than cranberries.  A total of 2-3 cups of berries.  Stir.

Cook until the cabbage is tender.  Probably 10-20 more minutes. If it’s on the dryer side, cover it.  If it’s very wet let it simmer uncovered to let the juices thicken.  If it’s dry enough to start sticking or frying, add some liquid either as vinegar or water.  Taste and adjust salt, vinegar, or possibly add sugar if your berries weren’t very sweet.  I love the deeply purple berry vinegar syrup that clings to the cabbage at the end.

It goes well with plenty of meals.  It would make a great dish to share at a picnic or pot-luck or thanksgiving table.  It’s good warm or cold and just as good the next day as it is fresh.  Most recently we had it with slow-cooker BBQ country ribs (falling off the bone and shredded) and some fried garlic red potatoes.