1. Cabbage is good and cheap all year around. This makes it an especially good salad base in the winter when lettuce is expensive and, sometimes, sour.
2. Cabbage may be the most fun vegetable, ever, to chop. Take a big knife and slice the cabbage in half. Then slice one of the halves into thirds through the core. Use a paring knife to cut the core out of one of those thirds. Then, use the big knife to slice through the layers -- each slice yields many small strands of cabbage.
3. Cabbage is a bit tough when consumed raw. I learned the solution for tenderizing cabbage from Mark Bittman -- layer sliced cabbage and salt in a colander over a bowl and let it soften for at least a half hour and up to several hours. If your dressing has something salty in it, like soy sauce, rinse the salt off the cabbage. Fresh fennel, a winter vegetable, works well with cabbage and requires the same kind of softening procedure as cabbage (I learned that just a couple of months ago from Jacques Pepin), so slice it up and layer it in with the cabbage and salt in the colander.
4. Cabbage salad, including dressing, keeps in the refrigerator for several days. This makes it a great choice for busy week days -- make cabbage salad for Sunday lunch or supper and have it for lunch for the rest of the week.
5. Besides the fresh fennel mentioned in point 3, ingredients that work well in cabbage salad and stand up to sitting in dressing for several days include carrots and red peppers (these also make a nice color contrast). A mix of green and red cabbage is another colorful option.
6. Nuts and dried fruits can work well in cabbage salad but should be added at the time of serving because they get soggy in dressing.
7. Cabbage salad makes a great dish to take to a party since it's both healthy and keeps well. Here's my favorite recipe to use for a party version of cabbage salad:
Fresh Citrus and Ginger Coleslaw
8. If I'm not taking my cabbage salad to a party, I generally use a much simpler vinaigrette -- roughly equal parts of apple cider vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, plus a little mustard and honey to taste, all whisked together.
9. When I have local cabbage in the summer, I usually make something more reminiscent of a creamy coleslaw with these dressing ingredients: yogurt cheese (aka strained yogurt), mayo, apple cider vinegar, raw sugar, pepper.
10. Another dressing choice is to use a peanut sauce. A brown dressing isn't as attractive on cabbage as a vinaigrette or creamy dressing, but this sure is tasty -- whisk together extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, peanut butter (preheat in microwave to soften), ground ginger and ground garlic.
Pan Fried Mackerel
Red Curry Vegetable Soup
