heads up

Well!  Three comments.  Thank you, three commenters, and I hope Ryan Gosling has a poster for this. Looks like we may need it! If you are shyly lurking, please consider leaving a comment on yesterday's post.  I am making a lot of blackberry jam and you would really be helping me out if you entered the running to receive some.

Meanwhile: cabbage!  It's here.  It's ready.  It has an undeservedly low reputation, I think.  I've yabbered on about it before, in the doldrums of winter, and now that we can yank it fresh from the ground, here I go again.

If, like me, you have a thyroid issue, you may have been told that raw members of the brassica or cruciferae family (cabbages, kales, mustards, broccoli and so on) are not a friend to the system. I have done extensive research on this matter, in the sense that once in a while someone reminds me of this recommended injunction, and then I do some half-hearted googling, and then I get confused and decide that the known health and emotional benefits of a kale salad with lemon juice, olive oil and salt, plus the fact that I do not eat this combination exclusively or even daily, probably protect me from any potential harm. 

The only conclusive data I've run across in my exhaustive analysis regards the notion that cooking neutralizes most of the compounds suspected of interfering with your body's optimal performance. Cooked = good to go.

So we're good to go.

warm but crisp cabbage with coconut and cumin

1 head cabbage, cored and cut into fine ribbons

2-3 T olive or coconut oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 T shredded coconut

scant teaspoon of whole cumin seed

Juice of half a lime

kosher salt to taste

pinch of red chile flakes or cayenne pepper

Warm a large heavy skillet over medium heat, and toast the cumin seed and coconut until fragrant and the coconut is lightly golden, about 3 minutes.  Stir constantly and don't let your mind wander.  It's the work of one idle, spacy moment to burn it to a crisp.  Trust me.

Scrape the coconut and cumin into a bowl and set aside.  Heat the oil in the pan and cook the garlic until just fragrant (no browning!), maybe three stirs, and then toss in the cabbage and mix it around in the garlicky oil.  Cook, stirring and tossing, over medium-high heat, until the cabbage is bright and just tender.  Toss it with the coconut-cumin mixture, a squeeze of lime, the chile and a fat pinch of kosher salt, and taste to correct the seasonings as you like them.