Dish 42: Cabbage Curry

I love Indian food and have wanted to experiment with it for a while, so I was super excited when this recipe came up in a search for what to do with cabbage. I decided to go all out and do coconut milk instead of yogurt. 

I didn't have asafoetida so I included one of my scallions to infuse some oniony flavor to the dish. I also used yellow mustard seeds instead of black and about half the salt called for. 

The results were decent. I tend to go for the tomatoey Indian dishes instead of creamy, so this was a bit heavy for me. Especially for summer. It also still tasted salty somehow- or maybe I'm not used to the turmeric. Something about the spices were off.

What happened? My heirloom cabbage (which was delicious and sweet on its own- cole slaw next time?) was smaller than a standard cabbage. Also the Internet tells me black mustard seeds are stronger than yellow. The cumin comes through, would've loved more mustard flavor. 

After a night in the fridge it definitely looked like the recipe pictures. 

And mixed with some quinoa for lunch was infinitely better. Next time I'll stick within my flavor wheelhouse next time (I want to try baingan bartha), so at least I know what I'm dealing with. 

The sauce is very fatty (1/2 cup oil + 1 1/2 cups coconut milk? Eek) so I'm trying to spread that out a bit. May tweak and use it in something else. We'll see.

Notes for improvement:

- Go to an Indian grocery store (you're in NYC after all)

- Taste and adjust

- When trying something new, pick a time when you're not working around someone else in the kitchen so you can focus
- Have more rice on hand

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!