I’ve never been a fan of cabbage. Be it broiled, braised,  as a slaw, or kraut, it was just never a vegetable I really enjoyed.  So for a week I had a head of green cabbage from my CSA sitting in my vegetable drawer taunting me. Begging me to figure out a way I could prepare and enjoy this nutritious vegetable.  So I broke out my trusty mandoline, and food processor and let my creative juices flow. I was in the mood for something on the sweet side so I decided to go a more fruity route.  I took some inspiration from my mom who will toss poppy seed dressing with bags of pre-cut coleslaw, and used my favorite poppy seed dressing as the base.  The result was a super tangy and sweet summery salad filled with crushed nuts and dried fruit . The cabbage itself provided a crunch that really made the salad complete.

Chopped Cabbage Salad with Poppy Seed dressing

Yield: 4 large servings

1 head green Cabbage, sliced or shredded

4 small red radishes, choped

1/2 cup Walnuts, crushed

1/2 cup mixed dried fruit (I used Archer Farms brand)

1/2 cup Brianna’s Poppy seed dressing

Directions

I chopped the radishes, walnuts and fruit by pulsing them in the food processor quickly.  Toss all ingredients together and serve. Tastes great with a Mothership Wit.

The perfect local summer dinner.  CSA vegetables tossed with fresh pasta and some chicken from Arnold’s Farm.  For the pasta I used mix of 1/2 semolina and 1/2 unbleached all-purpose flour. It gave it a firmer texture and deeper flavor than when I’ve used all-purpose flour on its own.  I made this the night before the hubs swam in the relay of the Chicago Triathalon.  Not a bad way to carbo-load.

Fresh Pasta

1 1/2 cups semolina flour

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

4 Large Eggs

Kosher Salt (just a pinch)

1) Combine flour into a bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and crack the eggs into it.

2) With a fork beat the eggs a bit and then incorporate them into the dough using a circular motion. Once the flour and eggs are mostly combined get rid of the fork and dive in with your hands

3) Gently kneed the dough by turning it about 1/4 of a turn and pushing it up into itself from the bottom continuously. Don’t over work the dough.  If it is to dry add a tiny bit of water.  It should form a smooth ball.

4) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 20 minutes

5) Once dough has rested roll it out with a rolling pin (I do this in 2 sets) and then run it through a pasta machine

6) Let dough dry for about 1/2 hour before cooking in lots of salted boiling water (at least 1 gallon of water for each pound of pasta)