Our friend Luis recently attended the Hatch Chili Festival in New Mexico, and came home with a bounty of peppers.  Since the weather in Chicago has been gorgeous, he decided to have a bbq featuring chili burgers, and chili chicken burgers.

Luis and his pepper

He warned us of non-Hispanic heritage that the heat of the pepper was in the seeds, and was kind enough to sort through them to make a”mild” version.

Mild on the left, hot on the right

I needed a couple Coronas to help me through the burger, but man was it delicious. The chilies were roasted so it provided a smoky flavor, and HO BOY was there some heat. Even though I chose my chilies from the mild side of the plate they still cleared out my sinuses. We also feasted on local corn, and grilled zucchini.

Luis was kind enough to send us home with a bag of chilies. Now what should I cook with them?

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.