Somehow, September form of slipped far from me. I knew four weeks inside the beyond that I had to provide you with a modern Soup or Salad of the Month recipe, however no longer whatever that appeared attractive got here across my path, and earlier than I knew it, the month turned into nearly over and I nonetheless hadn't positioned a today's recipe.
So after I eventually attempted a brand new vegetable dish last weekend, I decided to move in advance and communicate to it my Salad of the Month, although it's not really what most people may want to recollect a salad. It is a combination of vegetables, but it is served hot or warm, no longer bloodless. So it's far clearly no longer a salad with the useful resource of my dictionary's definition, which is
So I think I'm just going to say that, while this dish may not fit most people's idea of a salad, it does fit in with my initial goal of eating a healthier, more veggie-centric diet, which was what prompted me to focus on soups and salads for my Recipes of the Month this year. And given the choice between including a questionable recipe and having no recipe at all for September, I think it's better to go ahead and count it. You can argue with me in the comments if you like.
So what is this sort-of salad dish? It's a very simple recipe from Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without (Tante Malka, 2007), combining cabbage and leeks in a sesame dressing. You saute the sliced leeks in a bit of melted butter until they're "very tender," then add an equal volume of cabbage and a bit of water and let it cook over low heat until the cabbage is "tender" as well. (This is the step that makes it questionable to classify this dish as a salad. If the cabbage was cooked only until "tender-crisp," then I think I could call it a salad without feeling like I was cheating.) Then you dress the whole business with dark sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, and salt and pepper to taste.
We served this up as a side dish, with some pan-broiled sausages (free-range from the Amish market, of course) and leftover polenta. Unfortunately, the flavors of these three dishes didn't really complement each other all that well, so I didn't feel like the dish was being shown to its best advantage. But even if it had been, I honestly don't think I'd have been all that crazy about it. Cabbage, to my thinking, is at its best when it's a bit crisp, not cooked into mush. If we'd cooked the cabbage to tender-crispness rather than sogginess, as I suggested above, it probably would have been more to my liking. As it is, I don't think we'll be making it again.
So as an addition to our vegetable repertoire, I don't think this sesame-braised cabbage can be considered a success. But as a way to get me through the month of September without having to scrap my New Year's Resolution, it's at least a partial success.
