As it turns out, Winter is one of my (Amelia) favorite seasons for produce.
Yes, Winter, not Summer. The cold season where everything is supposed to be dead.
But everything isn’t dead, and I see that now! Cabbage makes crunchy salads, cauliflower has buttery potential, pomegranates are truly edible gemstones, and my heart dances a little whenever I smell the fragrance of quince or taste a sweet persimmon. Unlike summer—with its heirloom tomatoes puffing out their tender chests and its variety of dripping fruits—winter doesn’t boast. And here, some of my favorite winter produce meet in salad, one of my favorite things to eat: cabbage, pomegranate, and apple salad.
Summer makes me panic. How do I best appreciate the season in all its glory? How can I make use of it all this time? I overbuy at the farmers market and constantly worry about waste—both the rotting fruit and the molding recipes on my to-do list. Winter is calm. Carrots are here now, and they will be here later, too. And the squash will hang around happily for months.
All I need now is a root cellar and life will be perfect. (Mom, as you edit this, that was for your eyes especially.)
Anyway, the salad. Crunchy, fresh, sweet. A variant of this one from Smitten Kitchen. Easy to make, fun to eat. You get the idea; go, make this, and enjoy some of winter’s hidden bounty.
WINTER FESTIVAL SALAD
1 small green cabbage
1/3 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream
2 apples (our favorites are Fuji and Honeycrisp grown by Allred Orchards)
1/3 cup feta, pre-crumbled or not (we like Boar’s Head pre-crumbled)
1/2 pomegranate, seeded
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Tear off and discard the tough outer leaves of the cabbage. Slice it in half and cut out its core. Slice it into thin strips.
Cut the pomegranate in half, then bang the back of it with a knife to allow the arils to fall out.
Spread the walnuts onto a baking sheet and toast them for eight minutes. We always opt to toast them in our toaster oven for simplicity’s sake, and recommend that to you, if you have a toaster that allows for such a method. After the walnuts come out of the oven, rub them with a towel to clean off most of the skins. Once they have cooled, chop them up into bits; I like them small.
Pour cider vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, crème fraîche or cream, salt, and pepper, into a small Mason jar. Put the lid on the jar and shake well, until you’ve coaxed the sour cream/creme fraiche to mix with its new friends.
When ready to assemble, chop up the apples into bite-sized pieces. Don’t peel them! It won’t make an important difference, other than possibly cutting your lovely fingers on a peeler and taking up some of your time, not to mention that peels will accumulate on your kitchen floor. Just cut the apples. Toss the unpeeled apples in with the cabbage, pour the dressing over top, and stir. Taste and adjust the seasonings—it will probably need more salt and possibly more lemon. Add the chopped walnuts and crumbled feta. Taste. Adjust. Serve.
Do ahead: The cabbage can be chopped a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator (or outside if you live in a cold climate, because it’s winter, yay) and the dressing can be made a few days in advance.
What do you like to do with your Winter produce? Tell us in the comments, we love hearing from you!