Red cabbage salad (and here come the spuds!)

The awesomeness of this recipe belies its humble beginnings in a college cafeteria salad bar. The story of its genesis is found in A homemade life, by Molly Wizenberg (author of the Orangette blog). It's more of a formula than a recipe, but I present it here in the hope that you'll give it a whirl. It's delicious, it must be good for you, and who doesn't need more ideas on what to do with a cabbage?!

The ingredients are pretty simple. A chunk of red cabbage (green would probably work too), a clove or two of garlic, some olive oil, some lime juice (the recipe calls for lemon, but I save my lemons for whiskey sours -- we all have our priorities), salt, pepper, and a grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano (although I think most hard cheeses would be just fine here).

The first step is to chop your cabbage. Slice it as thin as you possibly can. I stop slicing when I have enough (vague, I know) -- the recipe calls for a pound and a half, I call for a heap.

Squeeze your lime into a big bowl, and pour in some olive oil until it looks to be about 50/50. (You could also measure it, but I don't think it's really necessary -- the recipe says two tablespoons of each to go with your pound and a half of cabbage).

Add some thinly sliced garlic, a pinch of salt, a grating of pepper and whisk it all up into a nice dressing.

Drop your cabbage in there and mix it around to coat it evenly. Hands are the absolute best tool for this job. The red colour will brighten a bit -- cabbage juice is like litmus paper and will turn red in the presence of acid. Then grate a bit of parm on top, give it another quick mix, and plate it up! (Or eat the whole thing out of the bowl all by yourself if you like farting!).

In the garden today, I caught sight of the spuds I planted back on March 20th. When I see them I always sing Here comes the sun... only I change it a little to Here come the spuds...

The radishes are also busy, and starting to put on their red slacks. Another couple of weeks and I'll be eatin' 'em!

Bon appetit!