chicken livers and cabbage

I think liver is a seriously misunderstood food in North America. I have always liked it, even as a picky little kid who didn't want to eat any number of seemingly innocuous things. When I was younger, I would beg my parents to make this for me for dinner--a blessing to them at the time, I'm sure, as it is fairly cheap and easy to make in addition to being good for you. I know very few other people who ever begged their parents to make liver for dinner. I was weird. If you don't know if you like it or can't remember trying it, you really should. I know it looks kind of gross and the word liver isn't that appealing, but it is delicious!

To make this, you will need:

one medium sized head of green cabbage

approximately 1lb of chicken livers (I prefer fresh)

1 small to medium sized onion--I like walla walla sweets or yellow onion

2 tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

The cabbage should be lightly steamed until tender in a separate pot. This should be done first, as it takes some time. Cut the cabbage in half, then in about 1 inch "strips" lengthwise, removing the tougher inner core when applicable. Arrange on a vegetable steamer and cook until the cabbage is done--I don't like mine overcooked but it is to your taste. It will get cooked a bit more later as well, so keep that in mind.

In a pan with olive oil, saute the chopped onion until translucent and/or slightly browned. Add to that your chicken liver (I will generally cut some of the larger liver into pieces to facilitate serving later) and cook until the liver is just slightly pink inside.

Drain the cooked cabbage, then add to the pan with the liver and onions and give it a good stir so the cabbage can benefit from the onion/liver/olive oil that has been sizzling in your pan. Cover and allow to cook on medium, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes--less if you are concerned about overcooking the liver.