The answer is .... cabbage!

I think kale is the new cabbage. I love kale but can only eat cabbage raw - as in coleslaw.... I make a super soup with lentils and kale - very cleansing it is too
Joanna Lumley doesn't need to diet - does she? I do agree with roses that she is becoming more horse-like and I find her increasingly gushing voice very irritating. Nuff said (only jealous)

This was Cassandra's opinion :

"Boiled cabbage à l'Anglaise is something compared with which steamed course newsprint bought from bankrupt Finnish salvage dealers and heated over smoky oil stoves is an exquisite delicacy. Boiled British cabbage is something lower than ex-Army blankets stolen by dispossessed Goanese dosshousekeepers who used them to cover busted-down hen houses in the slum district of Karachi, found them useless, threw them in anger into the Indus, where they were recovered by convicted beachcombers with grappling irons, who cut them in strips with shears and stewed them in sheep-dip before they were sold to dying beggars. Boiled cabbage!"

Seems he didn't care for it...

I always thought Cassandra was a woman?

My grandma has always eaten very well. She has at least three good meals a day and more cups of tea than I care to count.

Breakfast is always porridge with honey followed by two slices of brown toast with butter and a mashed banana with a cup of tea.

Lunch a full cooked Traditional dinner none of that foreign muck complete with vegetables, potatoes and gravy, followed by a sponge pudding and lashings of cream or custard and a cup of tea.

Afternoon tea is a fresh cream cake or a custard tart and a cup of tea.

Evening is a sandwich of ham and tomato or lunch tongue followed by a toasted tea cake or slice of something yummy and yet more tea.

Now she is 98 this year. Quite active for her age and has a brain that could outwit a Matermind champion.

(So did I, Aka)

What puts me off cooking cabbage is that I read, some years ago now, that you should slice it directly into boiling water. This is so that the enzymes, released by the cutting, are destroyed before they can kill off the vitamins. This does result in burnt fingers from the steam from the boiling water. So now, no cabbage. Too painful.

Never heard of that one, jingl...

Sometimes I wish I'd never heard of it.

(It's in my Mrs Beetons book)

I like raw cabbage but can't abide the smell of it cooking and I find that if it's cooked it's far more likely to engender flatulence than if it's raw. I prefer broccoli anyway.

I bet that Mrs Beeton also told you to boil cabbage for an hour as well, Jingle, in lots of water. Do you do that?

What about the old remedy for reducing the pressure of breast milk post-pregnancy? Raw cabbage leaves in the bra I was told !!

No it doesn't jendurham! Quite the opposite. It is a newer version of Mrs Beetons. Only about 45 years old. Recommends using a small amount of water.

And no, of course I don't boil cabbage to death.

Did nothing for me Rosannie.

These days I microwave most veg anyway, being a three microwave household.

One in the kitchen, one in the bedroom...where does the other one go?

Purleese don"t get her started on where she puts her third one .

I think cabbage is supposed to "keep you regular" but no one ever mentions this as it is not trendy!

@Aka - this Cassandra was a fairly unpleasant columnist on the Daily Mirror. His real name was William Connor. He's the one who was sued for libel by Liberace - who won the case -although he had to lie like a cheap watch to do so.

Boiled cabbage - Ugh! Pools of tepid water concealing white, lumpy stumps. Pale tired and wilted leaves floating listlessly on the flaccid surface. Hanging over this unappetising overcooked mess like mist over a foetid swamp was a heavy, unpleasant odour associated ever after with cheap boarding houses, greasy-spoon cafes, and of course - awful school dinners. It wasn't until much later that coleslaw, bubble and squeak, or finely shredded steamed cabbage and smoky bacon, arrived to help save the poor old cabbage's reputation.

PAPA , you seriously need to look at some good cookery books!
There really is nothing nicer than a plate of lightly steamed cabbage, served with butter,black pepper and lemonjuice.
You need to get out a bit more !!!!!!!

I agree, Bikergran, my daughter likes cabbage, is a most healthy eater.Farts mightily at times; windows permanently open!

Enjoyed reading this thread.Laughing my socks off!

But where DOES JBR keep the third microwave? The butlers pantry?