Happy “Family Dinner” Friday, fellow adventurous cooks. If you’ve landed here by happy accident, please subscribe here or join tonight’s dinner / cooking party 6-8 PM (CDT) by signing up here. Learn more about Family Dinner here. I’ll be hosting one of these every third Friday. Tonight, we’re making a vegetable stir fry with noodles and tahini dressing. You can cook along or just hang out and have a drink!

Newsletter #6: A Love Letter to Cabbage & Family Dinner

William Doran — April 16, 2021

Cabbage is by far one of the most underappreciated veggies. It’s cheap, easy to cook, and even easier to enjoy when it tastes good. Growing up, I only knew it as the main ingredient in coleslaw and the gross mushy stuff (boiled cabbage) that we were forced to eat on New Year’s Day (along with ham and black-eyed peas to bring health, luck, and financial fortune for the year to come). This also has me thinking that maybe we need a trio of New Year’s recipes to re-imagine, but hold onto, these dear gasto-superstitions (or perhaps a New Year’s Family Dinner). Notes taken.

Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles and Tahini Dressing

Cabbage is the real star in this recipe. It chars and softens over very high heat. Tahini, lime juice, and a little pasta water bathe it in a silky sauce that comes together in one pan. There is a good bit of chopping and mincing. Having a microplane or good grater and buying pre-shredded carrots will save a lot of the prep time. Prep time: 30 min. Cook time: 30 min. Feeds 4-6 people.

So Much more than Mushy Greens

Roasted Cabbage w/ Apples, Bacon, & Cider Vinaigrette

The magic of roasting is no stranger to cabbage. In this preparation, it gets a kick of sweet and savory from apples and bacon. Similar to our stir fry, everything is cut into roughly the same shape / size to allow for pretty even roasting and easier consumption.

Getting tossed in a vinaigrette is the other trick. Roasted vegetables sing with some acid, fat, and a little sweetness. Though our saga begins with a lowly head of cabbage, the link above details this cabbage recipe AND explores several alternative combinations of vegetables and flavor profiles - like cauliflower with butter, parmesan, and white wine vinegar. I hope these recipes will make cabbage lovers out of the most vehement veggie haters. I mean, there’s bacon, so how can things go wrong?

The Next Family Dinner is Fri., May 21, 6-8 PM

Make dinner with me and a small cohort of other adventurous cooks on the third Friday of most months for Family Dinner. Next month’s menu has yet to be determined. Click the button above to chime in! Our time frame is limited to a couple of hours, but otherwise the world is our oyster (chargrilled oysters sound really good right now). We’ll learn a little, eat a lot, and have a really good time. All you need is a smart phone or computer. Get your ingredients together, put on your aprons, and let’s cook.