Cabbage Cravin'.

I've tooted the horns of Molly Wizenberg and Matthew Amster-Burton's radio program, Spilled Milk. The topic of the last episode was spouseless eating and Molly mentioned that she braises a lot of veggies, and cabbage is one her favorites. And while I'm temporarily spouseless, I thought I'd give this recipe a whirl. I adore braising, it's so effortless and all it requires is good ingredients.

Braised Cabbage with Apples and Caraway Seeds is a super simple recipe - red cabbage, diced red onion, shredded tart apple, apple cider vinegar, salt, honey and caraway seeds. Braise for an hour and voila, something sweet and a lil' zingy too. So good solo, but Molly recommended serving it with pork chops or a grilled cheese with sharp cheddar. I think it would also be a great side dish along with a farro salad.

Gaga for Tahini.

How many bottles of dressing are sitting your fridge? Come one, fess up. Dare I ask how old some of those bottles are??? If you were to open mine, you'd find one bottled dressing - ranch ( I can't help it, I need it for pizza). Aside from the ranch, I've dedicated my dressing/vinaigrette ways to making them myself, it's easy peasy. You rarely need to purchase exuberant ingredients for such an item and it makes all the difference in the world. It takes a salad from standard to life changing. Okay, maybe, that was slightly melodramatic, but it's the truth.

I wish I could claim this recipe as mine all mine, but I give credit to where credit is due. Back in January I took a healthy cooking class from the "one and only" Jessica Hilton (personal self and holistic nutritionist) and one of the recipe gems that I learned was a tahini dressing. The dressing was featured in a Mediterranean salad but also was suggested that we toss with steamed kale (which I have done and is amazing). Since that fateful day, I've made this dressing religiously and I think you should join this tahini-loving cult too. You will thank me.

Tahini Dressing

1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
1/4 c. tahini (sesame paste)
zest of lemon
scant 1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
2 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. hot water
scant 1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional - I added this to the dressing and it gave it a nice kick)

I blended all together with my immersion blender, but you could use a regular blender.