Stocking your kitchen with pantry staples is a little trickier than you might imagine. Sure, there are dried beans and whole grains, canned tomatoes and frozen edamame. The produce drawer is a different story. Less trips to the grocery store means you’ll be tempted to stock up on produce, but so many of the fruits and veggie that bring freshness and nutrition to our recipes are not hearty enough to last for very long. As now is not the time that anyone wants to throw away mushy cucumbers, swampy greens or browning broccoli, it’s important to stay stocked on produce that has a notoriously good shelf life. One of those items is cabbage, which, if kept refrigerated, can last for quite a long time.
On the face of it, cabbage might appear to be a humble vegetable, not usually as celebrated as its other cruciferous brethren like cauliflower and brussels sprouts. But, truly, it is such a tasty, versatile veg, which can add crunch to tacos, can be shredded into tangy slaw to accompany roasted or grilled meats, or can be cooked down, so its texture turns silky.
This Pennsylvania Kitchen at Home video contribution from Adams County-based Chef Josh Fidler gives frilly savoy cabbage a delicious treatment, transforming it into an herb-showered spicy salad, dressed with a miso vinaigrette (miso is another foolproof pantry staple; because it’s fermented, it lasts virtually forever). This crunchy, savory salad is topped with some sauteed ground beef from The Farmstead Butcher that Fidler dug out of the freezer, and a garnish of lime juice, furikae and crispy noodles. You can feel free to swap in other fresh herbs you might have on hand, use a different kind of protein for topping — ground turkey, fried mushrooms or baked tofu would all be great — or dress it up with different garnishes. Cooking from the pantry means working with what you’ve got and getting creative!
Let us know how your cabbage salad turns out on the PA Eats Facebook page!
- Video: Josh Fidler
