Cabbage and Kale - Three Ideas

This is where the rubber meets the road.  Right about now you are finding out that a full share CSA is not for the cowardly, particularly if you have been traveling lately, as I have. Veggies are piling up.  There is no more room in the vegetable drawer.  You've even filled up the fruit drawer and still veggies are stacking upon veggies.  It's time for some serious work.

A good place to start is with the cabbage (hard to use up) and the greens (they wilt fast). So here are a few ideas for you to try. 

While visiting my dancing daughter in Atlanta I stayed at the Marriott in Dunwoody and tried their baked kale appetizer.  I am pretty sure all they did was cut up kale, toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and bake until crisp (but not burnt!).  They key to not burning the kale is to bake at a lower temperature than you would think.  I baked mine at 275 for 12 minutes and it came out great!

Baked Kale

Baked Kale

3-4 kale leaves, center rib removed and torn into 2 inch pieces
olive oil cooking spray (or 1/2 tbs olive oil)
salt, pepper to taste

Spray cut up kale leaves with olive oil to coat (or toss with the olive oil).  Sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste.  Bake on a cookie sheet for 12 minutes at 275.  Serves 2 as a snack/appetizer.

Also while in Atlanta we had lunch at a raw vegan place - Tassili's Raw Reality in the West End. All I can say is that if you ever get to Atlanta, this place is well worth a visit.  It is a very simple, casual establishment in an old house.  From the posters on the wall displaying the "ankh" symbol to the elaborate scarab, cartouche, and heavy necklace jewelry that was for sale on the porch, we could see that this place was owned and frequented by a group of people that are into some type of polytheistic religion that strongly looked like the religion of Ancient Egypt (Tasilli calls herself Tasilli Maat) and that this somehow ties into the raw vegan diet.  Nonetheless we liked their food!  They had a terrific kale salad that is making me crave chopped kale heavily coated with dressing.  My wonderful daughter, Hannah,  came up with a fantastic tahini dressing last summer that I love to use on kale. So here is a good option I found to use both the red cabbage and kale.

Kale and Cabbage Salad

Kale and Cabbage Salad

For the salad:
1/4 head of red cabbage, chopped (about 4 cups)
1/2 bunch of kale, center rib removed and chopped
1 heirloom tomato, cut up
1 cup sliced scallions
For the dressing:
1/4 cup tahini
juice of 2 lemons
1 tbs white wine vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup
2 good pinches cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Place cabbage and kale in a large bowl.  Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad.  Toss all together to coat thoroughly.  Serve and enjoy!  Serves 4.
Note:  Since I am the queen of one dish meals, I served a little side of broiled tofu with this salad.  Just cube the tofu and toss with about 1 tbs each of sesame oil and soy sauce.  Broil on a cookie sheet for 7 minutes.

Finally, if you feel like doing a little more prep, I made this noodle dish to use up some of the cabbage and broccoli.  As I said, I like to make one dish meals, so I added some red kidney beans to bulk it up and add protein.  Tofu would be great in this too.  

Rice Noodles with Cabbage and Broccoli

Rice Noodles with Cabbage and Broccoli
8 ounces rice noodles (such as pad thai noodles), cooked, drained, and kept warm
1 tbs olive oil (or for more "asian" flavor use sesame oil)
3 cups cut up broccoli
2 cups chopped red cabbage
1/2 ounce dried shitake mushrooms, reconstituted in 1 cup boiling water for 5 minutes
1 cup red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup sliced scallions
For the sauce:
1 tbs siracha
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs mirin (rice wine)
1/4 cup vegetable broth

Heat oil in a large skillet.  Stir fry broccoli about 3 minutes.  Drain shitake mushrooms and add to pan with the cabbage.  Cook about 3 minutes to wilt cabbage but still have it maintain some crispness.  Add the garlic and ginger and toss for a minute.  Add the kidney beans and toss to combine.  Now add all the sauce ingredients and continue to stir fry to coat everything and heat through - about 3 minutes.  Add the noodles and scallions and toss to combine.  Serve at once.  Serves 3-4.

For more Kale ideas try these previous posts: Kale Salad with Creamy Avocado and Ginger-Almond Dressing and Kale! Kale! Kale!.

Tomatoes, Banana Peppers, Black Beans

Mile-high Rice and Beans

I still had those two beautiful Clarion tomatoes resting on the sill of my sunny kitchen window this week.  I loved looking at them because they remind me of summer and growth and new crops coming.  Now fall is here, the sun is waning, the nights are much cooler and there are no new crops on the horizon.  I was almost reluctant to use them because that would signify the end of the growing season.  But earlier this week I had a craving for one of our household mainstays as plant-based eaters - rice and beans.  We call ours "mile-high" because we pile on so many veggies!  We use all sorts of combinations of vegetables so use the recipe below (which is adapted from the Engine 2 Diet book) as a rough guide and create your own version with whatever vegetables you like. The sensory experience of the warm rice and beans with the cold vegetables is a metaphor for this transition from late summer to early fall.  Enjoy!  

Mile-high Rice and Beans 
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained (or cook up your CRO dry black beans if you still have them!)
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
1 tsp chili powder
2-3 Clarion River Organics Tomatoes, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1 cup corn, frozen or canned
2 carrots, grated
2 Clarion River Organics banana peppers, seeded and chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, course stems removed and chopped
2 avocados, peeled and cubed
3 cups cooked brown rice (you can cook the rice while preparing the vegetables) 

Heat the beans with vegetable broth, Bragg's and chili powder.  To serve place several spoonfuls of rice onto large plates and ladle beans on top.  Pile generous amounts of the chopped vegetables, cilantro, and avocado on top of the beans.  Serves 3 to 4.  

Week 2 Recipes - Gourmet Salad Mix, Strawberries, Red Scallions, Asparagus, Rhubarb

First, you might notice that I list the Clarion River Organics (CRO) produce items that each post uses from that week's delivery.  Sometimes I will even include items that were delivered the week before, but not yet used up.  The purpose of course is to make it easier to find what you are interested in. 

So with more strawberries and greens this week in the CRO delivery and the rhubarb still in the fridge from last week, I decided to make an all time favorite: green salad with rhubarb dressing!  This salad is a real treat because we have rhubarb only once a year when it comes from the CSA.  

Rhubarb is technically a vegetable, though due to its use as a filling in pies, many now call it a "fruit".  The stalks resemble celery, have a similar, if slightly more woody, texture and are quite bitter.  Hence, whenever rhubarb is used, it is cooked to soften it and a sweetener is added to tame the bitterness.  Most commonly, it is used in desserts.  However, I'm not much of a baker, probably because I do not particularly care about sweets one way or the other, so a rhubarb pie is never in the offing.  Thus, I was very happy when several years ago I came across a recipe for a rhubarb salad dressing.  I was reminded of this again when  I picked up my CRO order this week and found that they had given me the cookbook, Simply in Season, as a new subscriber gift (thanks CRO!).  This book too has a rhubarb dressing recipe.  

The beautiful thing about this salad is that anything goes.  You use the type of greens you like or have on hand (though spinach is particularly good) and any other toppings that you enjoy (see p. 46-47, Simply in Season).  The combination I use in the recipe below is one that I have found to be a proven winner.  It is a delightful mix of sweet, pungent, and savory flavors as well as soft and crunchy textures.  It may seem like this salad is a bit of work (who cooks fruit in order to make dressing?), but when you try that first mouthful you will find it was worth the time.  

Strawberries and Greens with Rhubarb Dressing

4 cups Clarion River Organics greens (I used their Gourmet Salad Mix from week 2)
1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup blueberries
2 Clarion River Organics red scallions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch asparagus, stalks trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces (if you still have yours left from Week 1 here is a use for it!)
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
4 large basil leaves

Bring a small pot of water to a simmer.  Blanch the asparagus by placing the pieces in the water for one minute.  Immediately drain, rinse and place asparagus pieces in ice water to keep them from cooking further.  Combine the washed greens with the other toppings.  When the asparagus has cooled, drain, pat dry and add to the salad.  Top with the rhubarb dressing (below).  Serves 4. 

Rhubarb Dressing (source: Simply in Season)
2 cups rhubarb, chopped (3-4 stalks)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, grated or minced
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (I use vegan worcestershire - regular contains anchovies)
1/4 tsp salt

Cook rhubarb, sugar, and vinegar over medium heat until soft.  Drain in sieve.  Discard pulp.  To 6 tablespoons of this juice, add remaining ingredients.  Shake in a jar or whisk together.  Chill before serving or you can use warm if you can't wait!