October 12, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Napa Cabbage

 

Cooking With This Week's Box

Orange Carrots:  

Butternut Squash Pasta Shells
Photo from www.juliasalbumn.com

20 Easy Carrot Recipes 

25 Healthy Carrot Recipes That Are Sure To Satisfy 

30 Creative Ways With the Humble Carrot 

33 Easy Carrot Recipes To Tingle Your Tastebuds

Butterscotch Butternut Squash:  

Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Shells Stuffed with Sausage, Spinach, and Tomatoes 

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Cider Vinaigrette

Red Onions:  

Red Onion Marmalade 

Kale and Red Onion Pizza 

Porcelain Garlic:  

Garlic Butter Steak Bites & Potatoes 

Ramen Noodle Stir-Fry
Photo from www.juliasalbum.com

Garlic Parmesan Carrot Fries 

Red/Orange Italian Frying Peppers:  

Napa Cabbage & Sweet Pepper Slaw

Ramen Noodle Stir-Fry with Sweet Peppers & Spinach 

Broccoli:  

Broccoli & Cheese Baked Potato Casserole

Butternut Squash & Broccoli Soup 

Baby Spinach:  

Spinach Salad with Grilled Vegetables and Herb Chicken 

Spinach Salad with Baked Pears 

Adirondack Red Potatoes:  

Homemade Potato Chips 

Creamy Potato and Chard Gratin
Photo from www.thetasteedit.com

Fork-Crushed Potatoes

Red Napa Cabbage:  

Vietnamese Napa Cabbage Slaw (See Below)

Salt-Massaged Napa Cabbage with Citrus Slivers (See Below)

Rainbow Chard:  

Creamy Potato and Chard Gratin 

Tuscan Chard and Cannellini Bean Soup

Mini Sweet Peppers:  

Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers 

Buffalo Hummus Stuffed Jalapeños 

Hello Everyone—

Napa Cabbage & Sweet Pepper Slaw
Photo from www.myrecipes.com

Fall is closing in on us and we did have our first frost this week. We’re preparing to plant garlic very soon, so we’ve spent a few frosty mornings cracking bulbs of garlic in preparation for planting.  We also started harvesting sweet potatoes! The reality is starting to come closer that we’re nearing the end of our harvest season.  But before we are officially done for the year, we still have more exciting vegetable selections to send your way, including this week’s gorgeous red napa cabbage! This is a stunning vegetable that may be eaten raw or cooked. If you’d like to enjoy it raw, consider trying this recipe for Vietnamese Napa Cabbage Slaw (See Below) or this Napa Cabbage & Sweet Pepper Slaw. 

Before long we’ll be pining for fresh greens, so let’s take advantage of every opportunity we can to consume these fresh, leafy greens before they are gone!  I included a few entrée type salads this week to utilize the bag of spinach. Check out this entrée salad recipe for Spinach Salad with Grilled Vegetables and Herb Chicken.  I also thought this recipe for Spinach Salad with Baked Pears looked tasty.  

Of course, if you prefer to cook your greens, check out these two recipes for Creamy Potato and Chard Gratin and Tuscan Chard and Cannellini Bean Soup.

I’m going to wrap it up for this week, but before I do I want to mention carrots.  I found several collections of carrot recipes and included them this week, so no excuses for not eating your carrots!

Have a great week!

Chef Andrea 

Vegetable Feature: Napa Cabbage

Photo credit:  Johnnyseeds.com

While it’s called “Red” napa cabbage, it really is more of a vibrant pinkish-purple color that is quite stunning against its pure white ribs.  We’ve grown these before, but this is by far the best crop we’ve seen of this vegetable!  Red napa cabbage is a relatively new vegetable, having been released onto the commercial market in 2016.  Its development may be credited to Kwonnong Seed company which is based in Korea. Given napa cabbage is the traditional cabbage used to make kimchi, a Korean fermented vegetable preparation, it makes sense that a Korean seed company would invest in diversifying this crop. This vegetable is also used in other countries throughout Asia where it is considered to be a staple vegetable.  According to cookbook author and chef, Fuchsia Dunlop, napa cabbage is referred to as “Chinese Leaf Cabbage” in China. She cites napa cabbage as one of the most important vegetables in northern regions of China where it is stir-fried, pickled, added to fillings for dumplings as well as using it in soups and stews. In Japan, napa cabbage is called hakusai and is something nearly every family that grows their own food will have in their garden. 

Napa cabbage is a little different than other varieties of cabbage. The heads grow upright and are more cylindrical in shape. The upper portion of the cabbage leaf is crinkly while the lower portion of the leaf has a wide, white rib. Fuchsia describes napa cabbage as having crinkly leaves like a head of savoyed cabbage, but with a crunchy bite more like head lettuce! Both the leaf and the ribs are edible and the combination of textures from the two may be described as crunchy, crisp, and juicy! Napa cabbage has a higher water content than some other cabbages. It is also more sensitive to the effects of salt, acidity from vinegar or citrus, and heat which all breakdown the cell structure of the cabbage and release water. When cooking napa cabbage, plan accordingly and know that it will only require a few minutes to cook if you want it to retain a little bit of crunch. If you are using napa cabbage in its raw form to make a salad or a slaw, I recommend mixing it with any vinaigrette, dressing or sauce shortly before serving. This will diminish the chance of the salad becoming soggy.

Napa cabbage pairs well with a wide variety of vegetables including sweet & hot peppers, onions, carrots, garlic, ginger, and herbs such as cilantro, basil, and mint. Napa cabbage is also often paired with citrus fruits including mandarins, oranges, limes, and yuzu (for which you may substitute a Meyer lemon). Other ingredients often used alongside napa cabbage include sesame seeds and oil, peanuts, cashews, soy sauce and fish sauce.

Store napa cabbage in the refrigerator, loosely wrapped in a plastic bag to prevent it from wilting or getting soft. For optimal results, use within 1-2 weeks of receiving it. As always, we invite you to share your red napa cabbage creations with us in our private Facebook Group! 

Salt-Massaged Napa Cabbage with Citrus Slivers

Yield:  6 servings

1 ½ pounds napa cabbage

1 ½ Tbsp sea salt

Slivered zest from 2 small Meyer Lemons, yuzu or mandarin oranges

½ small dried or fresh red-hot pepper, sliced finely (optional)

1. Cut the napa cabbage in half lengthwise. Remove the core with a V cut and slice the cabbage crosswise into fine strands, using both the leaf portion as well as the white ribs. 
2. Place the cabbage in a large mixing bowl and toss with the salt, citrus zest, and red pepper, if using. Massage the cabbage gently until its natural juices have run out but it is not completely fatigued (meaning the cabbage has started to soften, but it still has texture).
3. Pack into a resealable plastic bag, squeeze out all the air, and roll tight. Chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Remove from the fridge, lift the cabbage from the accumulated liquid, and squeeze. Taste, add a touch more salt if needed and serve. 

Serve this salt-massaged cabbage as a fresh relish-type addition to a meal where it serves as an accompaniment instead of as a main item. For instance, it would go well with grilled fish, chicken or pork served with rice as a simple meal.

Recipe borrowed from Nancy Singleton Hachisu’s book, Japanese Farm Food.

Vietnamese Napa Cabbage Slaw

Yield:  4 servings

8 cups loosely packed napa cabbage, thinly sliced in ¼-inch wide strips

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup shredded carrots

2 Tbsp Asian fish sauce

2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

½ cup tightly packed fresh mint and/or cilantro leaves

¼ cup chopped unsalted peanuts

1. Put the cabbage, onions, and carrots in a serving bowl. 
2. Just before serving, add the fish sauce, lime juice, red pepper flakes, and herbs and toss to combine. Sprinkle the peanuts over the top of the slaw and serve immediately. 

Recipe borrowed from Laura Russel’s book, Brassicas: Cooking the world’s healthiest vegetables.