Whelp, here we are, 2019! May it not be the Swamp of Sadness/Fire Swamp that 2018 was for New England farmers. It is no mistake that fantastical tales (did you recognize the references?) use swamps to symbolize psychological stuckness. After living the real thing for a year, we're all ready to write ourselves a new happy beginning, middle, and end.
We are kicking off the new year with a nice selection of greens, the roughage you need to recover from holiday excess! There is always a much greater demand for local greens than there is supply in the cold months. One of the tricks to successful winter greens access is to eat the greens that grow best in the winter, not just the ones you are used to. And by that, I mean Chinese Cabbage and Boc Choy. They are tender, mild, and grow heartily enough to withstand much colder temps than the more delicate leaves of lettuce. If it is salad you are after, you're missing out if you haven't used Boc Choy and Chinese Cababge as your greens. They just need a rough chop and then five minutes or so with the salad dressing before they are ready to be served. The really magical thing about them is that they are hearty enough to keep a nice texture after being dressed, so you can make a big salad for dinner, and you'll find the leftovers are still crisp and delicious for lunch or dinner the next day. Lettuce cannot boast that kind of resilience.
Here is my favorite, with either balsamic vinaigrette, an apple cider vinaigrette, or a citrus vinaigrette.
While you can buy the dressings, they are so so so easy to make at home, and so cheap at make at home, that you should really try. You can avoid all the weird preservative ingredients that way, too. I use empty jars and lids from our salsa and tomato sauce to make them so I can have a bunch on hand.
Toss together with desired dressing:
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 2 sliced carrots (I use my grandmother mandolin, it has become an time essential veggie slicing tool for me)
- a pinch of salt and a couple turns of the pepper mill
- 1 chopped up Chinese Cabbage or 2 chopped up Boc Choy
optional fancy additions: grated Parmesan, chopped nuts or sunflower seeds, orange wedges.
I've been eating this every darn day for two weeks, and thus have scientifically concluded that you can't get sick of it.
Eat well,
Jess, writing for Chelsea, Darci, Kelsey, Kyle, Lara, Monica, Morgan, and Scott
|
|
|
|
