Is 2014 the year of the vegetable? Several signs point to it. The new coming of vegetables started last year with the suddenly trendy kale (approximately 90 per cent of Gwyneth Paltrow’s recipes on goop.com contained it), and this year cabbage in particular seems to be having a moment. Suddenly, magazines and food blogs are awash with cabbage recipes, and this decidedly unglamorous veggie that formerly lived in your fridge until it turned slimy and leathery and was moved into the bin, is suddenly barbecued with meat, shredded into coleslaw, cooked in soups and woked with pork and cashew nuts.

The past few years have been dedicated to meat, but all trends come to an end. We’ve now been feasting with five kinds of entrecôte, home-made sausage and slow-cooked pork for so long that a backlash is starting to feel inevitable. Focussing on greens is a natural next step in our quest to find healthy, clean, sustainable and locally-produced food.

But why cabbage, out of all the greens? First of all, it tastes good. Granted, you need to do something with it to get there, but that something doesn’t need to be very complicated. Sometimes just some olive oil and a frying pan do the trick. Second, you don’t have to stick with regular white cabbage; there are varieties for every day of the week: savoy, green, red, book choy, brussel sprouts, Napa. Third, they’re all packed with nutrients such as beta-carotene, vitamin C and fibre. And fourth – and not to be overlooked in these tough economic times – cabbage is cheap. The only downside would be all the space it takes up in your fridge. So get cooking and don’t let it lie there for too long.