October 18, 2018 - This Week's Box Contents, Featuring Green Savoy Cabbage

Cooking With This Week's Box

Carrots: Carrot Corn Muffins

Yellow Onions: Green Cabbage Soup with Potatoes and Sour Cream (see below); Smoky Squash Chili with Quinoa, Pinto & Black Beans; Charred Broccoli & Tofu Stuffed Avocados with Sweet Curry Lemon Sauce;  Sweet Potato Skillet Hash; Curried Cauliflower Pizza  

Garlic: Roasted Cabbage with Bacon Gremolata or Toasted Walnut Sauce (see below); Smoky Squash Chili with Quinoa, Pinto & Black Beans; Charred Broccoli & Tofu Stuffed Avocados with Sweet Curry Lemon Sauce    

Broccoli: Charred Broccoli & Tofu Stuffed Avocados with Sweet Curry Lemon Sauce

Broccoli Romanesco or Cauliflower: Curried Cauliflower Pizza

Honeynut Butternut Squash: Smoky Squash Chili with Quinoa, Pinto & Black Beans

  

Baby Arugula: Pear Vinagrette or a fruity Apple Vinaigrette

Burgundy Sweet Potatoes: Sweet Potato Skillet Hash

Russet Potatoes:  Green Cabbage Soup with Potatoes and Sour Cream (see below)

Green Savoy Cabbage:  Green Cabbage Soup with Potatoes and Sour Cream (see below);  Roasted Cabbage with Bacon Gremolata or Toasted Walnut Sauce (see below) 

Here we are, almost at the end of October!  The past week has been a chilly one which makes me really ready to fully transition to fall and winter cooking.  Lets kick off this week’s discussion with a super-simple recipe for Green Cabbage Soup with Potatoes and Sour Cream (see below).  Deborah Madison is well-known for simple, vegetable-centric recipes.  This soup is no exception.  From beginning to end it only took me 35 minutes to prep all the vegetables and simmer the soup.  No blenders, no complicated steps and very limited ingredients.  This is nothing fancy, but it’s nourishing and delicious.  I followed Deborah’s suggestion to garnish it with a dollop of sour cream and freshly chopped parsley.  You could grate Parmesan cheese on top or you could add a can of cannellini beans to the soup if you wanted to add a little more protein or body.  We enjoyed this warm soup with a piece of rustic bread and a light salad made with our salad mix tossed with vinegar and oil.

 

The other cabbage recipe we’re featuring this week is a combination of recipes from Andrea Bemis’s book, Dishing up the Dirt, and Sarah Britton’s book, Naturally Nourished.  Andrea has a delicious recipe for Roasted Cabbage with Bacon Gremolata (see below).  This is another very easy recipe that doesn’t take much time to prepare, you just have to be patient while the cabbage roasts.  If you don’t care for the Bacon Gremolata, try Sarah’s Toasted Walnut Sauce (see below).  Sarah has a similar recipe for charred cabbage in her book and garnishes the cabbage with this sauce which I think is a great vegan option for the roasted cabbage recipe.  This dish could stand on its own for any meal of the day if you served it with a piece of toast and a fried egg, or you could serve it in a smaller portion as a side dish.

Carrot Corn Muffins
Photo from Creative Culinary

It’s chili season!  This recipe just popped into my inbox, Smoky Squash Chili with Quinoa, Pinto & Black Beans.  This is a hearty vegan chili that uses the sweet, rich honeynut butternut squash for a bit of sweetness.  The smokiness comes from chipotle adobo sauce and fire-roasted canned tomatoes.  This will be delicious served with chunks of fresh avocado, which we conveniently have in this week’s fruit share!  I’m going to add a few slices of fresh lime as well (also in our fruit share) and serve it with these Carrot Corn Muffins.

While I was poking around on The First Mess blog after reading the post about the Squash Chili recipe, I came across this recipe for Charred Broccoli & Tofu Stuffed Avocados with Sweet Curry Lemon Sauce.  This sounds like a delicious, flavorful recipe to make with some of the last broccoli of the season paired with avocados from the fruit share.  If you don’t care for tofu, consider substituting tempeh or even chicken if you prefer.  This recipe also calls for fresh apricots, which are not available now.  I’m going to substitute chunks of fresh Jonagold apples instead.

Any time you can incorporate vegetables into your breakfast, you earn an automatic win for the day.  Check out this simple, yet flavorful recipe for Sweet Potato Skillet Hash.  This recipe is from Sarah Britton.  While most of her recipes are vegan, she does on occasion incorporate organic free-range eggs, which is the case with this recipe.  This is a hearty way to start the day or have it for weekend brunch and make a little extra that you can quickly heat up for breakfast on Monday morning.

Curried Cauliflower Pizza
Photo from Naturally Ella

You know I like a good, unique pizza!  This week lets try this Curried Cauliflower Pizza!  I can’t say that I’ve ever had pizza with cauliflower on it, but I made one earlier this year with salad turnips so why not try this one!  Of course you could also use the Broccoli Romanesco for this recipe as well.

Throughout the week round out your meals with a simple side salad using the Baby Arugula in this week’s box.  Make a simple homemade vinaigrette to have on hand so you have something quick and easy to use to dress your greens with.  Perhaps a sweet and tangy Pear Vinaigrette or a fruity Apple Vinaigrette.

Enjoy your cooking adventures this week and get ready for more hearty cold-weather fare next week.  While we enjoy our final days of fresh greens, we’ll start to transition to more root crops to go along with our sweet potatoes and winter squash.  Have a great week!—Chef Andrea

Featured Vegetable: Green Savoy Cabbage

Green Savoy Cabbage vs Red Cabbage

This week we’re featuring one of our favorite fall & winter greens, green savoy cabbage.  While many growers choose to grow “kraut cabbage” which is the standard smooth, green cabbage, we choose to grow savoy cabbage.  The term savoy refers to the ruffled leaves which we think are beautiful!  We also like this type of cabbage because it has more texture when eaten raw or cooked.  In addition to green savoy cabbage, we have a red savoy cabbage variety as well.  Despite the fact that this is a great variety, both beautiful and has long storage potential, the seed producers have chosen to discontinue seed production.  This will be our last year to grow and deliver red savoy cabbages as we have planted out the remainder of the seed we had in storage and cannot get any more.  We’ll be delivering red savoy cabbage in late November or December.

Cabbage has long been known as a staple vegetable necessary for surviving a long winter in cold climates.  It stores well and has a wide variety of uses.  Additionally, cabbage is packed with nutrients including vitamins C and K, fiber B6 as well as antioxidants.  When it’s too cold to harvest other greens, we can rely on cabbage to get us through until spring!

 

Thai-Style Slaw with (or without) Chicken

Green savoy cabbage may be eaten raw or cooked.  In the raw form, use this cabbage to make a traditional creamy cole slaw along with carrots and/or other root vegetables such as celeriac.  You can also use this cabbage to create some main dish salads such as this recipe for Thai-Style Slaw with (or without) Chicken which was featured in one of last year’s newsletters.  You can also use this cabbage to make a quick pickled salad or shred it, salt it and turn it into a simple slaw to eat with tacos.

Green savoy cabbage may also be cooked.  You can add it to soup, such as in this week’s newsletter or use it to make Beet Borscht.  I also like to use this cabbage in stir-fries over the winter.  Combine it with beauty heart radishes, thinly sliced turnips, carrots and onions to make a delicious winter vegetable stir-fry served with rice.  I also like to use cabbage throughout the fall and winter to make Farmer Skillet.  The recipe on our website is for a Summer Farmer Skillet, but you can use this concept to make a winter version of this using root vegetables with thinly sliced cabbage as the green on top.

Store your cabbage in the refrigerator loosely wrapped in a plastic bag.  If you don’t need to use the whole head at one time, just trim off the portion you need and put the remainder back in the refrigerator.  If your cabbage starts to get soft or a little dehydrated, don’t throw it out!  It’s still good and is perfectly usable for making soup or any other dish where you’ll be cooking the cabbage.

Green Cabbage Soup with Potatoes and Sour Cream

Yield: 7 to 8 cups

5-6 cups green savoy cabbage, thinly sliced

2 to 3 Tbsp butter

1 ½ cups sliced leek or diced yellow onion 

2 cups diced potato (russet potatoes are preferred) 

1 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste

Freshly grounded black pepper, to taste

Sour cream or yogurt, for serving

Minced parsley or dill, for serving

1. Melt the butter in a soup pot.  Add the leek or onion and potato, give them a stir, and cook for a minute or two, then add the cabbage and 1 tsp salt.  Pour over 5 cups water, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, cover, for 20 minutes or until the potato is tender. 
2. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt and pepper.
3. Ladle the soup in to bowls, then add to each a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkling of fresh herbs, and a final grinding of pepper.

Variations:

• Add 5 juniper berries and 2 tsp finely chopped rosemary to the leek/onion and potato.  Serve the soup with an extra pinch of rosemary.
• Reduce the water by ½ cup and at the end replace the sour cream with crème fraiche or cream.

Recipe adapted from Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen, by Deborah Madison.

Roasted Cabbage with Bacon Gremolata Or Toasted Walnut Sauce

We’re offering two suggestions for serving this roasted cabbage.  If you enjoy meat, try the Bacon Gremolata with Parmesan cheese.  If you’re looking for something a little lighter and/or a vegetarian option, try the Toasted Walnut Sauce.—Chef Andrea

Yield: 4 servings

1 medium-sized head of cabbage, sliced crosswise into 1-inch thick rounds

2 Tbsp olive oil

Bacon Gremolata and Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese or Toasted Walnut Sauce (see below)

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.  Brush both sides of the cabbage rounds with olive oil.  Place them on a baking sheet and roast until they are tender and browned on all sides, 35 to 45 minutes.  Toss halfway through cooking.
2. To serve, sprinkle the roasted cabbage with the gremolata and Parmesan or drizzle with Toasted Walnut Sauce.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Recipe from Dishing up the Dirt, By Andrea Bemis.

Bacon Gremolata

4 strips good-quality thick-cut bacon

¾ cup roasted unsalted almonds

3 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

Pinch of kosher salt

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the bacon and cook until it is slightly crispy on both sides.  Transfer the bacon to paper-towel-lined plates to drain, and when it’s cool enough to handle, chop it into small pieces.
2. Finely shop the almonds into small pieces.  Add the chopped nuts to a bowl, along with the bacon crumbles, minced parsley, lemon zest, and pinch of salt.  Set aside.

Recipe from Dishing up the Dirt, By Andrea Bemis.

Toasted Walnut Sauce

Yield: Approximately 1 cup

1 cup raw, unsalted walnuts

1 garlic clove

2 Tbsp cold-pressed olive oil

4 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp pure maple syrup or raw honey

2 generous pinches of fine sea salt, plus more as needed

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Spread the walnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.  Toast until they are golden and fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes, watching them carefully so they do not burn.  Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
3. Add the toasted walnuts, garlic, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and maple syrup to a blender.  Blend on high, adding 1 cup of water to thin the dressing as needed—you are looking for the consistency of melted ice cream.  Season with salt.  Store in an airtight glass container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Recipe from Naturally Nourished, by Sarah Britton.