189: Daikon Napa Cabbage Soup

Beige on beige on beige. This is kind of a mix of two recipes, one from the Huffington Post, the other from Bittman (hot & sour).

Ingredients

1/2 onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbs grated ginger

1 box (4 cups?) miso broth

1 lb daikon, chopped

1 head napa cabbage, sliced into strips

1 lb extra firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes

~ soy sauce, vinegar, pepper

I added the ~ items haphazardly, and feel like only the pepper may have actually been needed? It's fine, don't get me wrong, but the broth (from Whole Foods, don't judge) was really good and comforting on its own (or at least with the ginger, garlic, etc). 

My favorite part of this recipe is how much of my share it knocked out, though. Not sure I'll make again unless I'm faced with another cabbage/crazy huge daikon situation.

Delivery 19

Dill - 1 bunch

Beets - 2 pounds

Diakon Radish - 1
Cheriette Radishes - 1 bunch

Cauliflower - 1 head

Red Leaf Lettuce - 1 head (standard switch for more radishes)

Green Lettuce - 1 head

Napa Cabbage - 1 head

Bok Choy - 1 head

Leeks - 1 bunch

Broccoli Florets -1 bunch

Ancho Peppers - 4

Hot Peppers - take if you like

[no pic]

Cauliflower

Still love this roundup, though I'm tempted to try and fix my smothered cauliflower dish.

Napa Cabbage

With daikon I'm well on my way to more kimchi, but no. Loving this cabbage roundup from Bittman (picks: hot & sour, egg & tomato, caesar). Really feeling soup lately.

Leeks 

Still have my leeks from last week- I just went ahead and cleaned and chopped everything up without a definite plan in mind. Less excuses to dawdle. Here's a soup with cauliflower and cashews. Or that confit. Or fritters, again, though a different recipe.
 

Dill

There is some smoked salmon in my freezer that would be good with this- I'd go super simple though. Beyond that (as I still have tons of potatoes from the past few weeks): a potato salad with dill, roasted potatoes, or roasted radishes. Dill bread. Potato dill bread. And another.

Radishes

See other ingredients. Lazy this week. I'm not sure who doesn't like radishes, but for some reason they're always on the swap table. Not complaining, beats red lettuce any day.

Green Lettuce

A salad, natch. Not sure what kind, though could easily be a just greens with dressing kind of thing.

Beets

You have no idea how happy I am to see beets. I'd gladly take two pounds of these every week. Part of me was sad there were none on the swap table, but as it gets colder these will be more prevalent, so here's hoping. These guys are already roasted, earmarked for a repeat of sorts.

Daikon

This daikon is as big as my forearm. No kidding. Some will be pickled. Here are more recipes for that. I like this soup, even if it's more about the mushrooms than the daikon. Here's a simpler one.

Poblano Peppers

Not that I have a plan for it, but I'm tempted to make a sauce. Also maybe a pizza. Also also I picked up more hot peppers but forgot to add them to this pic.

Broccoli

Roasted with cauliflower and garlic. Spicy saute. These feel firmer than the last batch for whatever reason. Not a lot though.

Bok Choy

Cole slaw with radishes and daikon. Or a saute. I've gotten over my inherent meh-ness about this veggie, as I've made some fun things with it so far, but it's pretty hard to store in my greens-hatin' fridge.

Dish 50: Spicy Pickled Cabbage

Followed (more or less) this recipe:

- 1 head napa cabbage

- 1 large carrot
- 2.5 jalapenos

- 1 cup rice wine vinegar

- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 2" knob of ginger peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt

Bring all but first three ingredients to a boil in a pan. Turn off heat.

Slice up your cabbage (they recommended half longways then in 2" pieces- I'd prefer smaller pieces next time). Peel the carrot and shave the rest with the peeler. Dice the jalapenos.

Place veggies in a big container, toss with brine. Let sit in fridge overnight.

It will wilt considerably.

The dish was nice...a little too tart. I cut the sugar in half from the original recipe, which obviously made a difference, but I wish more of the natural sweetness of the cabbage had come through. I was in the mood for more subtlety. This may be better set with lots of burgers and brats.

I was worried the jalapenos would overpower- I may use less next time but 2.5 wasn't a bad amount. I did eat about half this salad for lunch, and am planning on working through the leftovers. I added a little honey before popping it back in the fridge, we'll see if that makes a difference.

(And side note- this cabbage was nothing like the Chinese Cabbage I got in my first few deliveries. I'm not at all surprised my kimchi turned out poorly. THOUGH! I will say, I did go out for Korean BBQ with a friend yesterday and their kimchi tasted like a slightly milder version of mine.)

Notes for Improvement: Less vinegar or shorter pickling time. Pair with something greasy or heavy.

Delivery 5

A delivery without lettuce. Wow. I'm not sure I'll exactly miss it, though I was just getting the hang of salads ...we'll just pretend that's true. 

Escarole - 1 head

Napa Cabbage - 1 head

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage - 1 head

Summer Spinach - 1 bunch

Sugar Snap Peas - 1 pound

Summer Squash - 2 pounds

Scallions - 1 bunch

Cinnamon Basil - 1 bunch

Going through all of these guys here -

Napa Cabbage is back. And it looks more like napa this time. I won't make Kimchi again. It's just not for me- I've decided to tweak Attempt 2 a little, grated up half an apple and added a bit more water. I may do a refrigerator pickle! Or a legit puttin up pickle (tho cook for 2 hrs? what? maybe I can do that in my crock pot). Here's another if I feel like getting out my canning kit.

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage: Heirloom variety of cabbage that gets those big outer leaves like cartoon cabbage. There's the obvious coleslaw. Or 17 recipes where it is not. Curry - not sure I want to go hunting for asafoetida, but apparently you can replace it with garlic or onions. I have been looking for an excuse to try Indian. Here's a simple and tasty looking tuna salad, too.

Squash: 2 lbs of squash is a lot. I'm repeating myself. Someone left their portion on the trade table. I almost went for it, but I have a feeling squash may be the new lettuce, but one I'll never get sick of. Maybe I'll try pickles this week? Or zucchini butter (keeps for a month ftw). Or a yogurt dip (and an excuse to buy more mint!). Most likely the first than my choice of the latter two.

Escarole: More harissa? Tempting, but will probably try something else with this guy. Looking back at last week's ideas, I have everything needed for this simple braise, so that seems to be a winner. For now.

Cinnamon Basil: Always excited for fresh herbs. This one is also known as Vietnamese Basil and is often served with Pho. I did look up recipes but don't want to go down that rabbit hole. 

So where does that leave us? Cinnamon basil chocolate mousse. I love mixing savory ingredients with sweet dishes and vice versa, but jeez, I really can't make 4 cups of mousse without someone to eat it for me. Here are a few more. Though I'm probably going to pretend it's just regular basil. Or add some to a new green sauce, as I have some cilantro to play around with, too.

Sugar Snap Peas: This is a decent amount of peas, fyi. I looove these, though honestly I just want to eat them as is. I've already sneaked a few. Or just continue with a week of pickles. There's a nice barley salad- I've been looking for an excuse to use barley, also more excuses to buy mint. Or just a simple toast with sesame.

Scallions will naturally find their way into a lot of dishes, I just have to remember to use them. Anything that requires an onion or garlic this week will probably have a little help. Also scrambled eggs. And maybe scallion pancakes.

Spinach: Last but not least. Honestly happy to have at least some kind of leafy green. I've also grown quite fond of eating the stems like celery (this time, in harissa. Is it bad that while dipping spinach into a sauce made with spinach I thought, "this is almost cannibalism." ...yep, need more sleep. Didn't say it though). Mark Bittman has a bunch of cooked spinach recipes. The Indian one looks lovely, especially if I opt into buying cocoanut milk for the cabbage curry. Crazy reach recipe: saag paneer!

Delivery 1

Yesterday I picked up my first CSA Share! Unfortunately I didn't take a pic of everything together until they were all bagged up, but still- gorgeous:

Contents:
Rhubarb-1 bunch*

Bok Choi-1 bunch

Chinese Cabbage-1 head*

Red Leaf Lettuce-1 head

Romaine Lettuce-1 head

Spring Time Kale-1 bunch

Mustard Greens-1 bunch*

Mizuna-1 bunch*

Garlic Chives-1 bunch*

Oregano-1 bunch

* = first time using. Technically I've cooked with mustard greens before...from a bag, frozen. So I'm not counting it

There was a small part of me that hoped that I'd be able to live solely off this CSA share, but there is a lot I'll want to pick up to supplement. I may have too many ideas :)

It'll be all salad everything for the lettuce and kale most likely. But for the new guys, here are some thoughts and non-bagged pics:

Rhubarb - Tart red veggie, usually used in desserts and jams. So excited for this, I've always wanted to try it, though wish I'd gotten more. This lovely rustic tart recipe from smitten kitchen seems my speed and requires minimal ingredient investment. Also you cook them straight from the freezer so there's no pressure to eat 10 in a few days.

Chinese Cabbage - aka Napa Cabbage. Used a lot asian cuisine- I see a super tempting recipe for dumplings, but I'm thinking kimchi! Or both- there is a lot of it. Found a nice kimchi recipe on CHOW- tho will probably omit the shrimp. It's got a slightly higher ingredient investment cost- and it may take some hunting to find that chili powder.

Mizuna - Japanese green- often compared to mustard greens or arugula, though milder. Can be eaten raw or cooked- I may try it with some lettuce in a salad and/or in stir fry recipe with Bok Choy (bonus for using another CSA veg!). Speaking of which...

 

Bok Choy - so. freaking. much. I've roasted the baby version of this before and loved it. Will probably try something similar with this big guy.

Oregano - nothing is springing to mind specifically for this (a friend suggested a lot of pizza!), but I so seldom use fresh herbs. Have to use all of it.

Garlic Chives -  It's like chive with a hint of garlic. Or a mild scallion. Another Asian veggie. I could use it in the kimchi- (oh hey! there's buchu kimchi which uses this instead of the cabbage)- or to showcase it make an omlette or garlic chive pancakes.

Mustard Greens - I've had an aversion to the flavor of mustard since I was little but recently started coming around to it in a big way. Want to try it in something cooked (maybe just a simple saute) and raw.

Tonight will be my first serious night of cooking in the new place. Sooo excited!