Sweet and sour purple cabbage

I went and did it again - bought more cabbage. This time, at least, it was purple, which is mildly exciting. And when I added enough bacon, it was actually quite tasty. I recommend this dish, because it doesn't taste like cabbage, it tastes like sweet and sour bacon, and its PURPLE! Not Ed-rating, since he isn't in Amherst, but I did deem the dish tasty enough to bring another batch to the training camp last weekend, where it was generally agreed that 1) bacon is delicious, and 2) this didn't taste like cabbage. So with that ringing recommendation, here's the recipe!

Sweet and sour purple cabbage
Made enough for 12 modest servings

1 head of purple cabbage
1/2lb bacon
1 onion
~1/4C lemon juice, or just juice from a lemon
~2tbs white sugar
salt to taste
cilantro (optional)

I'm not sure the cabbage has to be purple, but at least that'll make the dish pretty, and it's not like purple cabbages cost more than the green kind. I also learned the lesson that buying the $2.50/lb bacon is not necessarily a good thing. It rendered out a WHOLE lot of fat. I should find a use for bacon grease... popovers?

Dice up the bacon, and throw that in a large frying pan. Render out most of the grease, and pour most of it off. Dice the onion, and cook that down for a while, until it is soft and beginning to taste sweet. Chop the cabbage into little chunks, and put that in the pan. Add the lemon juice and sugar and some salt (a couple pinches). Cover, and let it cook for a while. Take the cover off, stir around, and let it cook some more. It's done when the cabbage is soft and silky. Add the chopped cilantro, and serve warm or cold.