winter salads

A great way to make and use local ingredients in the winter is to be creative with your salads. I get bored with what people usually expect of a salad... lettuce, tomato, cucumber... they're all well and good, but anyone notice that in most parts of the country this is a bonafide summer salad?

In the winter you need to improvise. Last night I made up this easy winter salad using up some veggies in the fridge from the farm. I also finally, just bought a manual vegetable slicer with several attachments for grating, slicing etc. Normally I HATE gadgets, I just hate the extra clutter really. I prefer a simplified kitchen. Whe the hell needs an egg slicer? How lazy are you that you need this? But, believe me folks this is one thing you absolutely need! It saves so much time if you eat alot of vegetables. Although I do have a good food processor, clean up is ridiculous if you only need a few things sliced, and this wastes no electricity. Needless to say, I was so excited when we bought it. I asked Doug, isn't this great as I showed him how quickly I sliced up a head of cabbage. You know its true love when your husband gets as excited as you about your vegetable slicer!

Winter Cabbage Salad Recipe with Asian Dressing

1 small head of cabbage

2-3 carrots

2-3 stalks green onions

Handful of snow peas

Dressing

1/8 c rice vinegar (or whatever you have, rice vinegar is milder)

1/4 c oil

2 T tamari soy sauce

1 t crushed red pepper

1/8 c sugar

Shred up your veggies. Whisk up your dressing, pour over and let sit a few minutes before serving to marinate. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds & fresh ground black pepper.