Red Cabbage
Cabbage is a handy thing to have around. Don’t let it be that vegetable that sits in the bottom of your refrigerator drawer for months on end. There are endless opportunities to use it up. I’m constantly pulling mine out and adding it to my “just about anything”. I like to make cabbage “shavings” by first cutting the cabbage in half, then simply shaving off pieces from along the edges. Also, if you’re like me and rarely use a whole cabbage in one sitting, keep the cut edges from drying out by rinsing and storing in a sealed plastic bag.
Good source of Thiamin, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Potassium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate and Manganese.
—nutritiondata.self.com
Berries
NW berries need to be treated a little gentler than their California counterparts. Always wait to wash until ready to eat, gently pat dry to avoid soggy berries, and try to eat within 3 days of delivery.
Sweet Onions
Sweet onions lack the sulfuric pungency of yellow onions. The best part? They won’t make you cry when you cut them up! This is also why they taste “sweet” – not because they have more sugar than regular onions, but because they lack the Sulphur. Sweet onions are best eaten fresh – cooking them wastes their delicate flavor and you won’t get the “onion-y” flavor that you want with a cooking onion. The mild flavor of these onions makes them perfect for your raw in salads and relishes or chopped as a garnish. If you do cook them, either roast them to caramelize their flavor or make homemade onion rings.
Sweet onions will keep for a week or two at room temperature. For longer storage keep them in an open paper bag in a cool, dark place. You can put them in the veggie drawer of a fridge in a paper bag or on layers of newspaper, but don’t keep them wrapped in plastic, since their juicy constitution makes them susceptible to rot and mold.
Featured Recipe: Roasted Vegetable Protein Rice Bowl
Fiber-rich and full of protein. Serves 4
Ingredients
1 small head of red cabbage
1 large sweet potato
1 sweet onion
1 15-ounce can of chickpeas
4 handfuls of red leaf lettuce, rinsed and chopped
1 1/2 cups of rice
8 ounces 2% yogurt
1 handful of cilantro
1 lime
Olive oil
Spices for Veggies: Onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cumin and some red chili flakes
Kosher salt
Optional: Feta Cheese
Instructions
Pre-heat your oven to 400F
Note: You can either chop and toss the sweet onions in with the veggies to roast, or, if you are fine with the crunch, serve them raw as a topping. For the veggies, cut the cabbage in 8 wedges. Cut large chunks of sweet potato so they cook around the same time. Cook for about 20 minutes or until al dente-tender. Meanwhile, drain the chickpeas and toss in some olive oil to coat and a couple shakes of the spices and a couple pinches of kosher salt. Throw on a lined baking pan and place in the oven (can bake at the same time as the veggies, but try for 10-15 minutes at 400F.
Meanwhile, cook the rice on stove top or in a rice cooker.
While veggies, chickpeas, and rice are cooking, make the cilantro yogurt sauce. Mix together the yogurt, cilantro, juice of the lime, shake of onion powder (or add in some fresh minced sweet onion!), garlic powder and some salt in a food processor or blender, blend, taste, adjust seasonings.
As soon as the veggies, chickpeas, and rice are done cooking, place everything in a bowl including the red leaf lettuce (optionally, you can mix everything else and dump on top the greens) and mix well, then cover for a few minutes, season with some salt and mix some more.
Recipe adapted from susanstable.com
