Cabbage is the quintessential winter ingredient, at every farmers' market, in every CSA box, on shelves at grocery stores across the country. Cabbage tastes best with a light touch, and the kitchen team at Maydān in DC knows just what to do with it. They turn cabbage into two lightly zingy, crunchy salads that have great texture and are super healthy—bursting with vitamins K and C. The first recipe takes just 10 minutes to put together. The second one is more time-intensive. Here’s how to make both.
Minted Cabbage Salad
Ingredients:
Green cabbage
Radicchio
Lemon juice
Kosher salt
Dried mint
Shred two cups green cabbage and 3/4 cups radicchio. Squeeze 1.5 tbsp of lemon juice. Take 3 tbsp dried mint. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, add kosher salt to taste, and and let marinate for at least 15 minutes.
Chermoula Cabbage Salad
Ingredients:
Green cabbage
Chermoula (see below)
Sumac onions (see below)
Fennel
Salt
Shred 1 3/4 cups green cabbage. Thinly slice 1/2 cup fennel. Take 1/2 cup chermoula and 1/2 cup sumac onions. Mix everything in a large bowl to coat. Let marinate for at least 15-20 minutes.
Sumac Onions
3 red onions, peeled, and thinly sliced
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1 tbsp sumac
Heat the vinegar until hot. Toss onions with sumac and divide them into well-sealed containers. Split the vinegar into 1/2 cup portions for each container. Seal and store in the fridge.
Chermoula
Makes about 1.5 cups (you'll need a food processor)
Ingredients:
5 garlic cloves, minced
Grated zest of 1 large lemon
1 1/4 teaspoons chili flake
2 1/2 teaspoons coriander and coarsely ground
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 bunch Italian parsley [just under ¼ lb per bunch], with stems, chopped
1/8 teaspoon saffron threads
1/4 bunch cilantro, with stems, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or salt to taste
3/4 cup neutral vegetable oil [canola/grape seed]
Dissolve saffron in 1.5 teaspoons water at room temperature until the threads start to dissolve, about 60 seconds. Put all ingredients except oil in a bowl and mix. Put in food processor and process while slowly drizzling in the oil until you get a pesto consistency. Refrigerate any leftover chermoula (discoloration of herbs is fine). Peak freshness is up to five days, but Maydān's team says, "up to a month [it] gets really good and funky."
Hero image: Maydān's minted cabbage salad. Photo courtesy of Maydān
