water-sautéed napa cabbage and celery garnished with fresh red pepper and lemon

July 2, 2013 • Nancy Wolfson-Moche

This dish was in response to a request from my daughter.“Why haven’t you been making Napa cabbage for breakfast lately?” she asked. The answer: I hadn’t found any that looked fresh with its signature crinkled green-tipped leaves. Yesterday I found one, and this morning I loved watching my daughter eat it all up.

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serves 2

INgredients

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¼ head of Napa cabbage

2 stalks celery

2-3 slices of fresh red pepper

½ lemon

a pinch of sea salt, coarse or fine

Process 

Remove 5-6 of the cabbage’s outer leaves, and wash them well.

Wash the celery and red pepper.

Slice the cabbage into thin strips.

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Slice the celery into medium-sized “c’s”.

Slice the red pepper into fine rounds.

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Pour water into a medium sized skillet, until the water it is about 1 inch high. Add a pinch of sea salt and bring to a boil on a medium flame.

When it boils, immerse the Napa cabbage in the water until it turns a brighter, more vivid color. This should take about one minute. Add the celery.

Let the celery and cabbage cook together for another minute or so.

Use a mesh skimmer to remove both the cabbage and the celery.

Arrange the cabbage and celery on a plate.

Top with sliced raw red pepper.

Right before eating, squeeze lemon on top.

Icing on the Cake: Testimonials

I loved Ms. Nancy’s cooking class so much.! I have been in this cooking class for two years and I would love to sign up for another one. I tried a lot of new foods like winter squash, cardamom, Brussels sprouts and kale. My favorite salad was the kiwi, carrot, radish salad.
Not only did we cook and eat, we also did labs about food. We used rulers to measure the size of plants. We also explored stone fruits and their ripe season. Now in my house we have window boxes and I am growing cherry tomatoes and basil.
I learned that we can use a lot of different tools to cook, not just our hands and senses. We used safety knives, potato peelers and a carrot sharpener (I wonder if you could sharpen a pencil with it?) !!!
Because of this class I can help papi make dinner and I will try any new food at least once to see if I like it. Thank you, Ms. Nancy for making cooking fun and interesting and helping me be excited about food.

- Love, K (a 7-year-old boy).