Purple and Green Tacos

My husband is the king of the crock pot.

Today, his recipe was stew beef in salsa (the salsa was from a jar, but made with real ingredients), cooked all day.

I came home from work and put the spicy, delicious meat on a whole-wheat flour tortilla with sliced red cabbage, arugula (I'm assuming my mystery leaves are arugula until someone tells me otherwise), parsley (because it's like cilantro?), feta cheese, and some fresh lime juice.

Mexican, no.  Weird, yes.

And absolutely delicious.

Ah! End of the Week!

It's been a busy couple of weeks with work and the kids.  I haven't been making enough lunches to bring to work and have instead been spending lots of money and lots of empty calories on junk from my office cafeteria.

I found myself this morning with a 'fridge full of CSA veggies and the realization that more veggies would be arriving today.

It was time to get it together.

I made this "salad" right into a huge tupperware container so that I could bring it to work.  It's a whole head of romaine lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces, sliced red cabbage (yup, I've still got red cabbage from two weeks ago in my fridge, as crisp and delicious as ever), and pickled beets.  I brought a little container of balsamic vinegar with me to the office, but, truthfully, it didn't need it.  The beets were juicy enough to compensate for a lack of dressing.

This isn't so much a recipe; it's more of a reminder to myself.

Why do I ever NOT bring my lunch?!

An unexpected bonus of this meal: A co-worker noticed my GIANT bowl of salad and we got to talking about food.  It turns out he also gets CSA veggies and is really concerned about environmental sustainability, genetically modified foods, etc.

Yes!  It's catching on!

Asian Bok Choy and Red Cabbage Salad

Thinly slice 4 leaves and stems of raw bok choy and about 1/4 of a red cabbage.  Place in a large bowl.

In a separate, small bowl, mix together:

1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
1 teaspoon honey

Top bok choy and cabbage with sesame seeds (to taste) and toss with dressing.  Enjoy!

Hungarian Cabbage and Noodles

I've been spending a lot of time adulterating my mom's excellent recipes lately, so I decided to try one straight up tonight.

My grandmother, my mom, and my aunts all love this dish.  I remember hating it as a kid.  I think it's a taste you only acquire as you grow up.

The ingredients couldn't be simpler:

Egg noodles (see below)
Head of cabbage, sliced
1/4 stick of butter
Heaping tablespoon of paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

Normally, I try not to cook with butter.  But, like I said, I decided to stick with the original recipe tonight.  A quarter stick of butter goes over at least eight servings of cabbage and noodles, so it seemed like a small splurge.

The local cabbage (which was gorgeous -- like a fractal!) I sliced into strips and then steamed in a pot with about 1-2 inches of water in it.

When the cabbage was soft, I drained it, and put it in a large bowl.  I stirred in the butter, allowing it to melt, and added the paprika.

While the cabbage was steaming, I made my own egg-white noodles.  They came together in the time it took to boil the water for them.  I used:

2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

8 egg whites

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

I kneaded the ingredients into dough and then ran through the pasta roller.  Simple, simple, simple.  [Why does anyone use boxed pasta?]

Fresh pasta takes only a few minutes to cook.

When the pasta was done, I drained it and then stirred it together with the cabbage.  I topped it with a small amount of salt, pepper, and some extra paprika.

It tasted just like I remembered from when I was a kid, but better!  I actually like it now!