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!.

Great Green Veggie Soup!

Here is the first of what will be "Sandy's Soup Series"!  From here on out a number of my recipes will be for soup.  It is that time of year when there is a damp chill in the air and fall vegetables lend themselves so nicely to warming soups.  Root vegetables, squash, apples, and greens all make for flavorful soup additions and endless possibilities.  And is there really anything like the scent of a pot of soup simmering on the stove?  I think not.  

Great Green Veggie Soup
1/2 cup whole wheat couscous
1 32-oz. carton vegetable broth
1/2 head broccoli, including stalk, cut up (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup frozen green peas
2 scallions, sliced
1/2 fennel bulb, chopped
1 inch piece ginger, minced
1/2 tsp dried dill
2 to 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 bunch greens (I used the CRO brussel sprout greens), chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

In a small container, combine the couscous with 1 cup boiling water.  Cover and set aside. In a soup pot, combine broth with 2 cups water and bring to a simmer.  Add broccoli, peas, fennel, scallions, ginger and dill.  Return to a rapid simmer, cover and cook 3-4 minutes until the vegetables are done.  Stir in soy sauce to taste, greens, and cilantro/parsely.   Cook about 5 more minutes or until the greens have wilted and are tender.  Stir in the couscous and serve at once.  Serves 6-8.

Week 4 Recipes - Broccoli, Zucchini Blossoms, Mesclun Mix, Red Lettuce, Red Cabbage

Remember when broccoli was all the rage in the 1980s?  It was the kale of yesteryear.  I still love it - raw or cooked - but if I cook it, I never cook it to the point of real softness.  I like it just crisp tender and bright green.  That is how it is prepared in today's recipe.  

I never waste any part of the broccoli.  If there are some small leaves on the stalks, I tear them off and save them to mix into my salads.  If my recipe only uses the florets (as this one does), I peel the stalks and use them in salads or as "broccoli sticks" to dip into hummus.

This is one of my favorite dishes which I adapted from one that is in the Engine 2 Diet book.  I start with their sauce and the shitakes as my base and then add what I think would taste good.  I like it with chinese style brown rice noodles instead of whole wheat pasta, but you could use either.  If you still have some garlic scapes from last week, you can use 1 or 2 in this instead of the garlic cloves.  Likewise with the scallions.  I often make this same recipe with carrots and snow peas instead,  but I particularly like broccoli in this which is why it is the perfect week 4 recipe!

Shitake and Broccoli Stir Fry 
16 oz. brown rice noodles
1 lb. extra firm tofu, cubed
Braggs liquid amino spray or 1 Tbs tamari
8-12 oz. shitake mushrooms, rinsed, patted dry, and sliced
1 head Clarion River Organics broccoli, cut into florets
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 Tbs minced fresh ginger (about a 2 inch piece)
Cooking Spray
1/2 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
2 scallions, sliced



For the sauce:
6 Tbs tamari
juice of 1 - 1 1/2 lemons
3 Tbs molasses
3 Tbs flour or arrowroot powder


First, make the sauce by combining all the ingredients with a whisker or fork and set aside.  Spray the tofu with the Braggs Liquid Aminos (or toss with 1 Tbs. tamari if no Braggs) until it is covered.  Place tofu cubes on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper put under broiler for 5 minutes (check it after 2-3 minutes to be sure it is not so close that it burns).  When tofu is light brown and very firm remove from oven and set aside.


Cook noodles according to package directions.  Meanwhile, spray a large skillet with the cooking spray to coat it and heat over medium heat.  Add the remaining ingrediants except cilantro and scallions in the order listed stirring for one minute after each.  Remove from heat and add the sauce and tofu.  Drain noodles and serve broccoli-shitake mixture over the noodles and garnish with scallions and cilantro.  Serves 5-6.

Zucchini Blossoms
And not sure what to do with that nice carton of zucchini blossoms?  Why not make a beautiful tossed salad to go with your noodles using the CRO mesclun mix and red dazzler lettuce, and even a little of that red cabbage, chopped.  Then  top the salad with the blossoms for some beautiful color and interesting conversation pieces.  I simply rinsed mine first and patted them dry and used them as a garnish.  You could also chop them up and mix in with your lettuce if you prefer to "hide" them.