Right now the farmers’ markets are loaded with good things to eat. There are piles of citrus, especially local kumquats, pommelos, and meyer lemons bursting with juice. You'll find ripe, buttery avocados just begging to be made into guacamole. There are boxes of plump medjool and deglet noor dates from Coachella Valley orchardists. They taste like candy and are a key ingredient in the famous California ‘date shake’. Local vegetable farmers haul in harvests of dark leafy greens and root vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, fennel, carrots, beets of all colors and stripes plus kale, collard, mustard and turnip greens which shoppers turn into salads, pasta sauces and vegetarian stews.
Especially appealing are the displays of cabbages; tight round heads stacked into pyramids, boxes of pale elongated napa cabbages, flowering savoy cabbages grown from heirloom Italian seeds and Chinese leafy cabbages like bok choy, pak choy and choy sum. Winter in California is a perfect time to grow cabbage. The plants love cool winter weather.
Our Harvest of the Month session this month highlights the noble cabbage. Highly adaptable, cabbages can be added to soups and stews, eaten raw in salads and even fermented (in the case of sauerkraut). They contain loads of Vitamin K and Vitamin C, lots of dietary fiber with nearly zero calories. For Angelenos, cabbage is almost the perfect ingredient.
They are great in winter salads. You don’t have to fuss with delicate lettuces or baby vegetables now. Using cabbage as a base, you can put together a bold, crunchy and definitive dish that includes shredded fennel, nuts, citrus-based dressing and bitter greens. Even if you decide to make a traditional coleslaw, don’t be afraid to play around a bit. Add red cabbage, toss some roasted sunflower seeds on top, sprinkle a few chopped scallions and enjoy.
Our students will try their hand at basic coleslaw, following the recipe you see below. But at home, feel free to add whatever strikes your child’s fancy. It will be delicious.
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Odyssey Charter School Coleslaw
(Makes 10 servings)
1-2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 heads cabbage, shredded
1 apple, grated
1 green onion, finely chopped
Mix grated carrots and apples, toss in shredded cabbage and chopped onions. Add 2 cups mixed dressing (recipe follows) and allow to marinate for 5 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
Coleslaw Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup vinegar ½ - 1 tsp. each salt and pepper (to taste)
1 tsp. sugar
1/4-1/3 cup milk
Mix all ingredients together to yield two cups of dressing. The dressing should have a pourable consistency, like heavy cream.
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