Jicama and Cabbage salad

For the past few days it's been too hot to do anything - cook, eat, blog. It's so muggy my fingers sweat on the keyboard. In the early morning coolness there is insentive to move.

Many vegetables have passed through my kitchen in the past few days. Independance day has passed as well. My last farm basket was full of greens and cabbage. It had a beatiful red cabbage and a huge napa cabbage. Cole slaw, of course, was what I brought to the Fourth of July Pot Luck. This one was very colorful and crunchy. I used a combination of the red cabbage and the nappa cabbage plus the addition on slivered red pepper, slivered almonds and a granny smith apple. The dressing was my basic coleslaw dressing of mayonaise, milk, sugar and- lacking vinegar I used - lemon juice.



Two days ago the temperatures hovered near 100 degrees. There was no way I was making more heat in the kitchen. Just chopping veggies made the sweat trickle down my back. Dinner that night was cold. A Jicama and Red Cabbage Salad and a green salad with blue cheese. Gluten free man added some tortilla chips and my daughter and I added some whole grain pita.

The jicama and cabbage salad came out nicely. A combination of sweet, salty and crunchy. I made a few adjustments to the recipe due to lack of and ingredient (jalepeno pepper) and preference (one daughter can not stand cilantro and we are not big on mint)



Jicama is a South American root vegetable, looks like a potato. It is a good source of fiber - 6 grams for 3 ounces- and vitamin C. The sweetness comes from oligofructose inulin, which is a prebiotic. The rest of the jicama plant is apparently poisonous. The skin needs to be peeled and it can be eaten raw or lightly cooked.



Jicama and Red Cabbage Salad

Adapted from a recipe by Rebecca Katz



The salad part is - 6 cups chopped red cabbage - I used a combo of red and napa cabbage.

2 cups julienned jicama, 1/4 cup combination of chopped basil and parsley.



The Dressing - 3 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce or tamari, 3 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.



Spiced Almonds (do not skip this- yum) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 1/2 cup slivered almonds, 1 tsp maple syrup and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Spread on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until golden and fragrant.



Mix the three parts and enjoy.

graduation party and napa cabbage slaw

This past weekend we celebrated the graduation of our youngest daughter from High School.

It is a very weird feeling to have both children done with school and moving on to the adult world. So that has nothing to do with food or the party.

Since we had tons and tons of fresh local veggies, that was the theme. I also had tons of local berries. The strawberries just finishing, the red raspberries going crazy in our yard and the blue berries starting a bit early. Desert was simple; ice cream, berries and browies (whipped cream of course).

It was too hot to grill, so I did some chicken the night before, along with some egg plant, yellow squash (from the local farm) and red peppers. The theme was "make your own wrap or salad".

I put out assorted cheeses, turkey, ham,grilled chicken, smoked salmon and a variety or spreads. Hummus, flavored mayonaise and mustard. My brother brought an olive spread to die for (I have begged for the recipe - it contains figs).

I made a few salads as well. Broccoli salad (recipe in earlier blog) - this included broccoli from my farm share. Tortelli salad with fresh pesto and sundried tomato (basil was in farm share basket - pesto recipe in earlier blog). A fresh green salad made with romaine, baby greens and iceberg lettuce (all from the farm share). Lastly I did the experimental salad, Napa Cabbage Slaw with Snow Peas. I found the recipe on all recipes and did a bit of finegelling(spelling?) as it sounded a bit bland. It came out ok, but I actually liked it better with mayonaise added later.

I have some cabbage left, so I'll play with it again. This cabbage was huge and blocked the light in my fridge.

Napa Cabbage Slaw with Snow Peas

1/2 pound snow peas, blanched and sliced thinly

1 1/2 pounds shredded napa cabbage

2 carrots shredded

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

3 green onions, chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp rice wine vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup slivered almonds.

Combine vegetables in a large bowl (this makes a lot) with slivered almonds.

Combine lemon juice, rice wine vinegar and olive oil. Toss with vegetables.

Add fresh ground pepper if desired.

If you try this and make any variations let me know.