Cabbage is one of my favorite vegetables. I also love fritters. What is a fritter? Battered and fried food! Yessss. You can also bake it, just so you know. And all frying doesn't have to be bad. So here is a combination of two of my favorite foods. Keep in mind, anytime I make fritters I like to get some cornmeal involved for the carnival effect. Also keep in mind, there are many recipes for these delicious morsels from all over the world. Just give 'em a google. Also keep in mind that if you can shred it, you can fritter it...

Cabbage Fritters! From Foraged Dish
Ingredients:

• 6 cups shredded cabbage
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 cup cassava flour (Here is one brand) COULD ALSO USE REGULAR FLOUR OR CORNMEAL!
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 bunch green onions, roots removed and remaining parts roughly chopped
• Dash salt
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• Coconut oil for cooking


• For the dipping sauce:
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha

 
Directions:

1. Place shredded cabbage in bowl and toss with chopped green onions, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, dash of salt, and cassava flour. Once cabbage is coated, crack eggs into bowl and add sesame oil and soy sauce. Mix until everything is combined.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once it sizzles, scoop the cabbage mixture into the skillet 1/4 cup at a time. Use a spatula to press the 1/4 cup pile down into a pancake shape and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes, until the cabbage begins to brown. Using the spatula, flip the fritter and cook on the second side for 5-10 more minutes, until browned. (I find I can do 3 fritters at once in my skillet to quicken the cooking process). Place cooked fritters on a plate and repeat until all of the cabbage mixture is used.
3. Make the sauce: combine ingredients for sauce in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Stir. After 5 minutes, remove from heat. Pour into small bowl.
4. Serve fritters warm with sauce for dipping. Garnish with extra sesame seeds or Sriracha.

Roasted Daikon radish french fries. I haven't tried this yet, but in my heart, I know it will delicious. I got the recipe from here. Two tips straight from the source, don't expect to need a dipping sauce, don't expect the same texture as a tater.  Use any of our daikon- green and white, purple, or classic. I'll try it too and lets compare notes. Some of my thoughts are in bold in the recipe.Spicy Roasted Daikon Radish French Fries
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Ingredients

• 5 cups (about 1 3/4-pounds or two of our bunches) Daikon radish, peeled & sliced - see instruction no. 2. for instructions- I wouldn't bother peeling it.
• 3 1/2 tablespoons grapeseed oil - you can substitute any oil if you don't have grapeseed on hand. My subs would be seasame, olive, or coconut.
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chile paste (I like Sambal Oelek)- If you don't have any chile paste try subbing any of the following
  • Crushed Red Pepper Flakes. Aram David/Demand Media. Crushed red pepper flakes are dried cayenne peppers that have been crushed. ...
  • Hot Sauce. A bottle of your favorite hot sauce is a simple substitution for chili paste. ...
  • Ketchup With Ground Cayenne Pepper. Ketchup has a very similar texture to chili paste.
• 1 teaspoon low sodium Tamari or soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger pulp, freshly grated
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 475°F, and adjust a rack to the center.
   
2. Cut the Daikon into sections approximately 3-inches long, then cut about 1/4-inch slices off the side of each one, to make a base. Stand the sections on their bases, and cut them, vertically into slices about 1/4-inch thick. Stand these slices on top of each other, and then cut them into sticks about 1/4-inch thick. Add all of the Daikon slices to a baking sheet and set aside.
   
3. In a small bowl, combine the oil, chile paste, Tamari or soy sauce, ginger, sugar and salt.
4. Drizzle this over the Daikon slices and then use your hands to toss them until they're all evenly coated and in a single layer.
5. Place the baking sheet in the preheated 475°F oven and roast until they are golden brown on all sides, about 30 minutes. (You should gently toss/filp them about halfway through the cooking time.)
   
6. Add a double layer of paper towels to another baking sheet, and when the fries are done, add them on top of the towels to drain and cool.- Skip the paper towels and try a cookie rack with a baking sheet under it. 
7. Serve!

Soup season is upon us and I want to kick it off with this simple concoction. All the flavors of fall blended into an energizing joy of a meal. If I was going to balk it up, I may cube and add a few potatoes... 

Carrot and Fennel Soup with Ginger from Food 52

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 small onion, peeled and diced
• 1 rib celery, diced
• 1 bulb fennel, chopped (fronds reserved)
• 1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup half & half
• kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper
• Pinch crushed red pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat butter and olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot.
• Add garlic, onion, celery, fennel, carrots and ginger. Saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add stock, bring to a boil, then cover and lower heat to a gentle simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes, until all vegetables are soft and tender.
• Remove from the heat. Add coriander, ginger, crushed red pepper and honey. Let cool slightly.
• Puree soup in batches in a regular blender until very smooth. Return to pot.
• Add half & half, and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt.
• Serve in bowls or mugs with a garnish of chopped fennel frond. (You can also make a fabulous fennel frond pesto- link)

With roasted squash, you can't go wrong. Our squash this year is FABULOUS, smooth and flavorful! Eating it is one of the easiest and nicest things you can do for yourself this week. Although the recipe below calls out Delicata, acorn, dumpling squash. this recipe can be the kick off to many a wintersquash recipe. 

Roasted Delicata, Acorn, or Dumpling Squash:INGREDIENTS

• Olive oil or oil of choice
• 1 or 2 squash
• salt, pepper to taste (you can add butter, honey, ginger, whatever you like really!)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Cut the Squash in half.
• Heat the oven to 350
• Cut the squash in half and coat it in oil, leaving the seeds in
• Place it, cut side down on a pan and put the pan in the oven
• Roast until fork tender (about 45 minutes)
• Flip the squash over, scoop out the seeds, add toppings or fillings (butter, honey, and salt for me - or - black beans and rice!)
• ENJOY!

Did you know that you can eat the seeds of any type of squash, not just pumpkins? If you are in the mood, try roasting those up too in the end! They are extremely nutritious and wildly delicious! Here is some information on how to enjoy squash seeds.

Recipe: 
A fall breakfast salad of kohlrabi and carrots and apples. One of my very favorites. I discovered it deep in the winter when all you do is crave something summer. But this recipe is so good, it stuck with me year round. I like to make a batch and have scoopful in the mornings. It is also great any time of day. And if I take a bite in the afternoon when I am hungry? Well you best know, there will be no breakfast salad the next morning- devoured.

Kohlrabi breakfast saladINGREDIENTS

• Olive oil or oil of choice
• 2 Apples
• 1 big Kohlrabi
• 8 big carrots
• salt, pepper to taste (you can add ginger, caraway seed, lemon juice, whatever floats your boat!)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Peel the big kohlrabi. I don't peel anything else.
• Shred everything with a grater.
• Toss it together and let it sit if you can wait! 

Are you ready to get to know collard greens? They are a rich in flavor and packed with nutrients.  Ubiquitously found cooked with ham hocks or bacon, you may think this is the only way to eat them. NOT SO! They are stand alone deluxe. I love to make a big bowl of them for breakfast. Poach an egg, cut a thick slice of bread, and let the enjoyment ensue. Also great with beans! Or roasted hunks of delicata squash. A dish doesn't have to be complicated to be delicious and this recipe is true to that.

Here is a recepe from Cookie and Kate
Quick Collard Greens Brazilian styleINGREDIENTS

• Olive oil
• Garlic minced
• Collards
• chili flakes
• Lime, salt, pepper to taste

​INSTRUCTIONS

• Cut the thick central ribs out of the collard greens, and stack the leaves on top of one another. Starting at one end, roll them up into a cigar-liked shape, then slice across the roll to make skinny rolls of collard strips. Use a sharp chef’s knife for this, and make your slices as thin as possible—ideally about 1/8-inch wide. Give the collards a few extra chops to break them apart.
• Warm a large, heavy-bottom skillet (cast iron is great but not required!) over medium-high heat. Add a generous drizzle of olive oil (the oil will later help your body absorb the nutrients in the greens). Then add the greens and some salt. Give the greens a good stir so they’re all lightly shimmering from the oil and turning darker green.
• Let the greens cook against the pan in 30-second intervals, stirring in between. Thanks to the hot oil in the hot pan, some of the collards will eventually develop crisp, browned edges—these taste so good!
• Once you see a little browning action, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. I suggest adding the garlic at this point, rather than before, because otherwise it’ll burn by the time your collards are done.
• Transfer the collards to plates so they stop cooking. Serve with a wedge of lemon, and you’re done.
• Heat oil in pan and toss in onions and garlic, herb you like (oregano anyone?!) and hot pepper if using. Cook until onions are soft.
• Stir in water or broth and then toss in the tops! Cook with lid on until they are the texture that you like. Anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. 
• Toss with lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. 

Brussel sprout tops. Why do we have them? The "Brussel Sprouts" themselves emerge where the leaves meet the stems along the main stalk. To encourage those to grow a little bigger, we "top" the plants. For us this means snapping off the growing points right at the top when the main stalk is long enough to produce a decent number of sprouts. But do we discard the tops? NO! We eat them! As much a delicacy as garlic scapes, another top we snap to encourage growth, these brussel tops have an excellent texture raw and cook up deliciously too. (And to give credit where credit is due, we just picked up this tip from Jeremy Moghtader, the knowledgeable and friendly farm manager from U of M Campus Farm).

Sauteed Brussel Sprout tops with Onion and Garlic!

​INGREDIENTS

• Olive oil in the pan
• Onions, chopped
• Garlic minced
• Brussel Sprout tops, chopped- include the stem!
• Broth or water
• Lemon, salt, pepper to taste, herbs your like, red pepper flakes or a hot pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat oil in pan and toss in onions and garlic, herb you like (oregano anyone?!) and hot pepper if using. Cook until onions are soft.
• Stir in water or broth and then toss in the tops! Cook with lid on until they are the texture that you like. Anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. 
• Toss with lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. 

Great with bacon.
Great with rice.
Great with eggs.
Great in a bowl.
Great with beans.

INGREDIENTS

• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
• ¼ cup capers
• ½ medium celery root (celeriac), peeled, thinly sliced on a mandoline (this is equivalent to one bunch of our roots) 
• 5 celery stalks, thinly sliced into long ribbons on a mandoline (You could also just use the stalks from our uber fresh celery root)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Whisk oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Stir in parsley and capers.
• Add celery root and celery to dressing; toss to coat. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 or 5 tomatoes (depending on size). Get some juicy ones and some firm ones.
• 1-3 cloves garlic (depending on tastebuds)
• 1 green bell pepper
• Some diced onion (one or two)
• Lime or lemon juice- just a splash!
• Optional- cumin, chilli powder, cilantro, 1 hot pepper of your choice (jalepeno, hot wax, or poblanos all work)
• Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONSChop and toss, splash in the lime, and sprinkle in the other ingredients. It really is that simple! If you let it sit for a touch, the flavors will meld together even further.

Another cabbage recipe, another joyous day. I made this with one of our amazing red cabbages and loved it so much, I made it again in a few nights time. 

INGREDIENTS

• Oil of choice for sautee
• 1 cabbage (or half a large cabbage)
• 2 bell peppers (at least!)
• 1 hot pepper of your choice (jalepeno, hot wax, or poblanos all work)
• Some diced onion
• A few cloves of garlic
• Optional- a tomato or two, tossed in early
• 2 generous tablespoons of peanut butter
• 2-4 tablespoons of applecider vinegar
• A handful of peanuts
• Additional hot pepper if desired
• Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oil in skillet
2. Chop cabbage, onion, peppers, and hot pepper and cook in oil until the cabbage is almost soft
3. Mince garlic and add to pan
4. Add peanuts, apple cider vinegar, and peanut butter, along with salt, pepper, and hot pepper, give the concoction a stir to melt and incorporate the peanut butter and a cover on it.
5. Allow the ingredients to mingle and remove from heat when the cabbage holds the desired texture

I love to eat this with hunk of bread, a pile of potatoes, or some other grain, but I must say, it holds its own, on its own.