Posts Tagged In Season

Savory cabbage salad with mint and cumin

Ingredients
Salad

  • Savory cabbage – 2/3 head of cabbage
  • Dandelion leaves (in Ottawa, they are available at Whole Foods) – 1 bunch
  • Mint leaves – 1 bunch

Dressing

  • Olive oil – 2/3 cup
  • Cumin seeds – 2 tbsp
  • Juice from 1 lemon
  • Garlic – 1 clove crushed or chopped
  • Salt and pepper

Directions:

  • Shred cabbage and chop dandelion and mint, combine. Make dressing. Add dressing to salad and serve.

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Seared Red Cabbage Wedges

This recipe is very simple to do, and can be served as a side to a wide variety of meats.

Ingredients

  • Head of red cabbage
  • 3 Tablespoons of olive oil (extra virgin)
  • Salt and pepper

Directions

  • Heat the olive oil in a cast iron frying pan over high heat.
  • While pan/oil is heating, cut cabbage into 8-10 wedges.
  • When pan/oil is hot, place wedges into pan in a single layer. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until the cabbage is golden brown. Turn cabbage over and cook on opposite side, another 3-5 minutes
  • Season with salt and pepper

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Lentil Salad with squash, carrots, beets and cabbage

Ingredients for salad

  • Green lentils (puy lentils) – 2 cups
  • 1/4 head red cabbage
  • Acorn squash – 1 small, peeled and diced
  • Carrots – 2, peeled and diced
  • Beets – 2 medium, peeled and diced
  • Summer savory or thyme – 2 sprigs
  • Rosemary – 1 sprig
  • Garlic – 2 cloves chopped or crushed
  • Parsley – chopped
  • Bay leaf – 1
  • Salt and pepper

Ingredients for dressing

  • Olive oil – ¼ cup
  • Juice from 1 freshly squeezed orange
  • Salt and pepper

Directions

  • Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roast vegetables (squash, carrots, beets) in single layer in roasting pan with olive oil, salt, summer savory/thyme and rosemary for 25 minutes or until tender.
  • Combine 6 cups of water with the green lentils in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add a bay leaf and pepper. Do not salt. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until lentils are tender.
  • Make dressing.
  • Drain lentils and discard bay leaf.
  • Shred red cabbage and toss with olive oil (2-3 tablespoons).
  • Combine lentils, red cabbage, parsley, roasted vegetables and dressing.

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In Season – Cabbage

During the winter months, many Ottawans look to continue eating a healthy diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables. But, what is in season this time of year? Cabbage. Cabbage is a great meal option in the winter – it is in season, full of nutrients and can be used creatively in recipes. Varieties of cabbage include green, red, savory, and several Chinese cabbages.

Green Cabbage
Green cabbage has pale to dark exterior leaves with pale green to white interior leaves. It can be eaten raw, or cooked in stir fries, sautéed, boiled, added to soups, or made into a wrap. Eating green cabbage raw has a peppery flavor, while cooking it makes it taste sweeter.

From a nutritional standpoint, green cabbage is high in vitamin C (32% RDA per cup), folate (10% RDA per cup), and fiber (2.1 g per cup).

Red Cabbage
Red cabbage has red to purple outer leaves (the color of the leaves influenced by the pH level of the soil where it was grown), with white streaks on the inside. Flavor characteristics of red cabbage are similar to green (peppery if eaten raw, sweeter when cooked). With cooking, the color of red cabbage will fade and may bleed into the other foods it is cooked with.

Nutritionally, red cabbage has a higher content of vitamin C (84% RDA per cup) compared to green cabbage. It has a high content of vitamin A (22% RDA per cup) and is a great source of fiber (1.9 g per cup).

Savory Cabbage
Savory cabbage is shaped like green cabbage, with a lighter green or yellowy-green color. Savory cabbage leaves are more delicate and have a milder flavor than green cabbage.

Like other cabbages, savory cabbage is high in vitamin C (36% RDA per cup), vitamin A (14% RDA per cup) and is a good source of dietary fiber (2.2 g per cup)

Chinese cabbages
There are many varieties of Chinese cabbages, which include bok choy, choy sum, gai choy and napa.

From a nutritional perspective, bok choy has a high content of beta carotene (24% RDA per cup), vitamin C (49% RDA per cup), folate (17% RDA per cup), iron (22% RDA per cup), fiber (2.7 g per cup) and has a much higher content of potassium (631 mg per cup) compared to other types of cabbage.

Choosing a head of cabbage
Choose a firm, dense/heavy head of cabbage that has only a few loose outer crisp leaves. For storage, it is best to store it in a plastic bag in the crisper of the refrigerator.

Cancer fighting cabbage
Cabbage contains several chemicals that may play a role in fighting various forms of cancer. These include many types of indole and isothiocyanate chemicals, that may reduce incidence of colorectal, breast and prostate cancer.

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