End of Winter Cabbage and Citrus Slaws

I usually cook on a seasonal schedule. There are certain dishes that I like to make at the same time every year based on holidays and what ingredients are good in my area seasonally. March is tricky though. March has always been a very stressful time of year for my work. Usually, I am getting up at 6AM in the morning to teach and then I have rehearsal for some show or another and don’t get home until 11PM…leaving very little time for eating and no time for cooking. You can look at the post on this blog from March last year for proof…there are none. In March I am usually eating a bag of jalapeno chips with a carton of orange juice on my way from one job to the next and trying to keep my caffeine consumption down to an entire pot of black tea in the morning ant two caffè lattes in the afternoon.

I have purposely not taken any theater jobs this year, so for the first time in my adult life, I have time to cook (and sleep) this month…but I don’t have any dishes that I cook in March. Plus the weather has been weirdly springy all winter long which has been making me crave foods that are nowhere near in season yet. So I am curious, what do you all cook in March?

I have been making a lot of cabbage salads. It started with a recipe that I saw on Roost and another from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi (great cookbook). Both of these recipes were quite tasty, although I ended up making a lot of changes to them. I have decided that cabbage and citrus salads are better with Avocado. I also like to add radishes, fennel or mint (or all three)! I am also of the opinion that blood oranges are overrated in this sort of context (although they do make a lovely marmalade). Cara Cara oranges are awesome though, if you can get them on sale. I did not try grapefruit or tangerines, but I bet either would be great. All of that said, good old-fashioned navel oranges are totally fantastic in all of these recipes.

Here are a whole bunch of ideas for end of winter cabbage and citrus slaws. Tweak them to your liking! Of course one can never go wrong with my mother’s excellent Asian Slaw, which you can find by clicking here, but that one does not include citrus fruit.

CABBAGE AND CITRUS SLAW WITH FENNEL AND MINT

adapted from Roost

For the Slaw

3 cups savoy cabbage, sliced thin
3 cups red cabbage, sliced thin
3 oranges peeled and supremed, or just separated into segments (zest one before peeling)
3/4 cup almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
2 avocados pitted, peeled and sliced
1 fennel bulb, leaves and core removed, and sliced very thin
1/2 cup roughly chopped mint leaves

For the Vinaigrette

1/4 cup olive oil
1 TBS toasted sesame oil
1 TBS red wine vinegar or the juice of 1 lemon
2 TBS honey or maple syrup
1 TBS Dijon mustard
3/4 tsp ground ginger or 5 spice powder
zest from 1 citrus fruit
salt and pepper to taste

CABBAGE AND CITRUS SLAW WITH SWEET SPICY PEANUTS AND LEMONGRASS VINAIGRETTE

adapted from the Sweet Winter Slaw in “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi

For the Slaw

3 cups savoy cabbage, sliced thin
3 cups red cabbage, sliced thin
3 oranges peeled and supremed (or just separated into segments)
2 avocados pitted, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup roughly chopped mint leaves
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves

For the peanuts

1 and 1/2 cups unsalted, roasted peanuts
2 teaspoons butter
1 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon chile flakes

Add the peanuts and the butter to a large skillet over medium heat. When the butter melts, add the sugar and chile flakes and stir constantly for one or two minutes until the sugar caramelizes around the peanuts.

For the Vinaigrette

7 tablespoons lime juice
1 stalk of lemongrass
3 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon tamari
1/4 tsp chili flakes
4 Tablespoons mild oil

Place all of the ingredients except the oil in a small saucepan and reduce over high heat for 5 to 120 minutes until it is syrupy. Remove from the heat, add the oil and set aside.

CABBAGE, CITRUS, AVOCADO AND RADISH SLAW WITH CREAMY CHIPOTLE DRESSING adapted from the contents of my fridge

For the Slaw

3 cups savoy cabbage, sliced thin
3 cups red cabbage, sliced thin
3 oranges peeled and supremed, or just separated into segments (zest one before peeling)
2 avocados pitted, peeled and sliced
some pickled red onion (soak 1/2 of a sliced red onion in 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 1 Tablespoon salt and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons sugar for at least one hour)
8-10 radishes, sliced thin (I am in love with radishes right now)
Shredded jicama would be good, but they are looking woeful around here lately
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves

For the chipotle dressing