Warm Napa Cabbage w/Black Rice

A person can only eat just so many salads in repentance of their holiday gorging, unless:

The salad is warm (like cozy fattening food, but not),
The salad has some carbs (that make me feel like I'm being bad without being bad),
The salad has a lot of flavor (enough to squelch my feeling of depravity.)

Meet such a salad:

Warm Napa Cabbage w/Black Rice

AND, if ya wanna pump up the zing: Add a few Salt & Pepper Shrimp

This month's Veggie pick for the Beet n' Squash You event (organized by Mel/ Gourmet Fury and Leela/ She Simmers) is Napa Cabbage, sometimes known as Chinese White Cabbage. It's so versatile and packed with good things for your body that you almost can't go wrong with the preparation. Napa Cabbage can be braised, grilled, sauteed, chopped raw, sliced and slivered for slaw, steamed and wrapped around fish, and pickled.

Selfishly, I wanted it several ways at once. Yes, I have an issue with commitment to one idea (it has cost me a lot of money to be able to say that out loud.) That's not my only issue, of course, but that's a whole other kind of blog.

Back to the Napa at hand: Aren't these the most beautiful stalks of lacy leaves in the cabbage world?
For this salad, begin prep by washing and drying the separate leaves. Then cut the white stalks away from the leaves. Keep the leafy part for making a raw leaf bowl around the salad, later. To make a salad that serves four; cut 2 cups of sliced up stalk.
Combine the sliced stalks with 1 med. sliced onion. Heat a Saute Pan with a 1Tbls. of oil and add the onions and cabbage stalks. Season with salt and pepper and cook on low/med until slightly caramelized. Add 6-8 sliced mushrooms to the pan and continue cooking til wilted. It's optional, but really adds some bite to throw in a dash of Sriracha (Chinese Chili Sauce.)

While these are slow cooking, start the Black Rice. This can be made according to directions that come with your purchase of Chinese Black Rice, but also I used Vegetable stock instead of water or Chicken Stock. Drain the rice, fluff with a fork and keep warm.

When all components are ready, toss together and season to taste.

Use the leafy ends of the left-over Napa Cabbage to make a small bowl on a plate to contain the Warm Rice Salad.

For the Salt & Pepper Shrimp: Use peeled, whole shrimp tossed in just a bit of cornstarch with large granule salt and ground pepper. Saute in a pan with 1 Tbls. hot oil for about 3 minutes on each side. Add a few of these to the top and garnish with minced cucumber.

The raw Napa leaves make a great palate cleanser after the warm rice is gone from your plate.

For other fabulous ideas using Napa Cabbage, click here to see the Beet n' Squash You Hall of Fame. You're also welcome to join us for next month!

My Fennel takes on Beet 'n Squash

Let's just admit it, I'm a sucker for a Challenge. I'm still new at blogging, so the whole thing is challenging for me. Earlier today, on Twitter, I read about a Vegetable Challenge that was started by She Simmers and Bouchon for 2; called Beets 'n Squash. For this month, the pick was fennel. They may as well have said my name out loud. I LOVE fennel. I've made muffins, omelets, jam, salads, and even ice cream from this Anise-flavored bulb. But the day to post was less than 24 hours from the time I read about it. Of course, I had fennel in the refrigerator, heh heh; and I was itching to use it. So, here's my draw, and let the Challenge begin:

FENNEL 'n ONION SOUP w/Calvados and Melted Gruyere SOUP SHOOTERFennel is a misunderstood vegetable, I think. A lot of folks think they don't like it because they've heard it has a hint of licorice-like taste and that's enough, it looks like celery and then doesn't taste like celery, or they've eaten it when it was limp and old. If you happen to be one of those peeps, I encourage you to give it another try; at least ROAST it with some olive oil/salt/pepper until it gets a little browned. Almost ANYTHING tastes good caramelized, right?

FENNEL/ONION RECIPE

1/2 large bulb fennel
1/2 large onion
1 TBLS. fresh thyme
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBLs. olive oil
2 TBLs. butter
1/4 cup Calvados (or another Apple Brandy, optional: use apple juice)
16 oz. Beef stock (or vegetable stock)
Several slices of French Bread (can be day old)
1/2 cup grated cheese (gruyere preferred)
s/p

Makes 4 1/2 cups servings or 8 mini cups

[I made these little soup shooters in espresso cups and melted the cheese on top with a cook's torch (little hand held gadget, smaller than a hairdryer).]

1) Start with a half bulb of fennel, trimmed and cored, a half large onion, a little fresh thyme, and 4 cloves of garlic.
2) Slice the onion and the fennel in long, thin strips. Strip the thyme branch to use the leaves. Mince the garlic.



3) Put the onions, fennel, 1TBL olive oil, 2TBL butter into a large saucepan and sweat (cook on low) slowly for about 20 minutes. Cook and stir often until the onions and fennel take on a caramelized color. The color builds depth of flavor, so don't rush this part.
4) Deglaze the pan with a shot of Calvados, add the thyme and garlic. Stir while continuing to cook for about 2 minutes.
5) Add the beef stock (or vegetable stock) into the saucepan and cover. Cook on low for about 45 minutes.
6) Toast the French Bread pieces (cut to the size of your serving vessel) on both sides.
7) Ladle soup into bowls (or for a party appetizer into small cups), top with toasted bread, cover in grated cheese and either torch or put under broiler for just a few minutes.

**Optional: serve by the fire and follow with a glass of wine **