Napa Cabbage: From Koreatown To Your Kitchen

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"Mommy? Where do babies come from?"

These words strike fear into the hearts of parents everywhere. That's why today's post will be extremely helpful in more ways than one because if you haven't heard already, babies come from today's vegetable, the cabbage. Cabbage patches, to be exact. I've seen a delivery live - up close and personal - at BabyLand General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia.

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There's your answer. THAT, my friends, is how you answer the dreaded question when asked by your five year old. Problem solved. You can thank me later.

In addition to bringing forth life (I kid, I kid), cabbages are pretty stellar in the way of nutrition. In keeping with my Asian theme for the week, I'd like to focus on the Napa cabbage (or Chinese cabbage), which dates back to the fifth century A.D. Some suspect that this cabbage variety is a cross between bok choy and turnips. If that's true, no wonder I like it.

Napa cabbage is a slightly milder and sweeter version of your average green cabbage. It's oblong in shape and has large, tightly clustered light green and yellow leaves. It's the main ingredient in Korean kimchi (as mentioned in Sunday's post), but you can find Napa cabbage in many dishes because it's extremely versatile.


Here are a few of the reasons you should incorporate Napa cabbage into your diet...

FOLATE FRIENDLY - Napa cabbage is packed with folic acid, which your body needs to make and maintain cells. Folic acid also protects your DNA from cancer-causing mutations and helps support the proper growth of the fetus in pregnant women. Ladies, you might also like to know that oral contraceptives can inhibit your folic acid absorption, so Napa cabbage can help you pump your system with extra folic acid.

AN ANTIOXIDANT ALLIE - It goes without saying that this cruciferous vegetable is full of antioxidants. Antioxidants help fight cancer-causing free radicals in the body. You want lots of these in your diet!

FULL OF FIBER - Raw Napa cabbage contains both soluble and insoluble fiber, which contribute to healthy digestion and overall wellness.

BONE BUILDING - Just 1 cup of raw shredded Napa cabbage provides you with 38% of your daily requirement of vitamin K. This vitamin ensures bone health, delays osteoporosis and even helps delay the progression of Alzheimer's.

DISEASE DESTROYING - You'll also get 46% (almost half!) of your daily requirement of vitamin C, which protects your body from disease and infection.

WEIGHT LOSS WONDER - That same cup contains only 20 calories! Napa cabbage can help you feel full without consuming a lot of fat and calories.


I know what you're thinking... This is all great news, but what do I do with it? That parts easy! You can use it as a wrapper or tortilla. Just wash a leaf and fill it full of goodies! You can also slice it into tiny shreds and make an Asian slaw or add it to your regular salad green of choice to spice up your salad. I like to cut it into pieces and throw it into a soup or stirfry. The leaves absorb flavor very well and do great in either.

This past weekend, Adam and I made our version of a vegetable pho with Napa cabbage. The beauty of this recipe is that you can use it as a basic framework and make it with whatever vegetables you like! There's a lot of chopping involved (don't say you weren't warned), but it will feed an army when you're done.

Separate the cabbage leaves and slice into 1 inch squares.
Leave a few leaves whole for the spring rolls you're going to make later. 

Peel and slice 1 white onion. You're aiming for crescent moon shaped slivers.

Thinly slice 4-5 carrots... organic preferably! Save some whole carrots for spring rolls too.

Add a little olive oil to the bottom of your large soup pot and saute the cabbage, onions and carrots for about 5-10 minutes until they are cooked. Throw some salt and pepper in there while you're at it.

Once the veggies are cooked, you need to make some broth! You can either add water (as much water as you want soup) with 2-3 vegetable bouillon cubes or fill with half vegetable broth/half water. Whichever you prefer. Also add 1 Tbs. of soy sauce and 1 Tbs. of minced fresh ginger.
Bring the soup to a boil for 1-2 minutes, then turn the heat down to
low-medium. In a separate pot, cook your udon or soba noodles (they cook fast, 2-3 minutes tops).

While the soup is simmering, add whole snap peas (or snow peas) and shiitake mushrooms (wash them first please!).

When the mushrooms and peas have cooked through, you're done! Just add the noodles to a bowl
and pour the soup on top!

Now that you've chopped a lot of veggies (way more than will fit in the soup), you can use the leftovers to make a side of spring rolls. You can find spring roll wrappers in the dry food aisle of the supermarket. They look like rice paper. For mine, I used shredded Napa cabbage, mung bean sprouts, thinly sliced carrots, fresh basil leaves and fresh cilantro. To make them, dip the spring roll wrappers in water (one at a time) until they soften slightly (not too long, or they'll become mushy). Place the wet wrapper on a cutting board or plate and fill the center with a small pile of ingredients (not too much or it will be hard to wrap. Fold down the top edge over the ingredients, then fold up the bottom edge. Now you're ready to roll from left to right, tucking under the ingredients as you go. They're not always beautiful, but they're guaranteed to be yummy and packed with nutrients!

For the dipping sauce, here's a solid recipe to follow: Peanut Dipping Sauce. Or make your own, by combining natural peanut butter with a little water, a hint of sesame oil, as much chili paste as you can handle, minced garlic and minced ginger. The key is to thin out the peanut butter so that it has a better consistency for dipping. Keep adding until it tastes good to you!

Dinner is served! Drumroll please...

Arugula: From Pesto to Pizza and Back

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This past winter, I lived with two very lovely ladies who made gourmet look easy. It wasn't uncommon to drag myself home from work on a Monday night and find a lovely cheese plate waiting on me. On top of that, there was an endless supply of white wine on hand (thank you, Fresh Direct), a close-to-endless supply of truffle oil in the kitchen (aka: 'the death of me') and usually a fire burning in our real-live working NYC fireplace (hot damn!). Times were good. The food was even better.

It's in this classy environment that I was introduced to the handy-dandy pita pizza, to which I ALWAYS added arugula. If there's no arugula, there's no pita pizza. That's just how it's got to be.

Arugula or rocket, as they call it across the pond, is a cruciferous vegetable, originally harvested in the Mediterranean region. It's a bit spicy with a slight peppery flavor. Clearly, I enjoy arugula because it reminds me of my first love pepper, but there are many other reasons to love this leafy green. 


Here's why you should give arugula a little 'look-see'...

• The dark green leaves of arugula mean it's packed with chlorophyll (high school science class, here we come!), and chlorophyll has been shown to protect against liver and DNA damage. 
• Eating arugula helps you build healthy red blood cells because it's full of iron. 
• Arugula provides you with a good measure of calcium, magnesium and potassium, which regulate blood pressure and preserve bone health. 
• Remember those cancer-preventing and cancer-fighting phytochemicals we talked about before? Well, arugula is packed with them! Studies have suggested that they're good for keeping ovarian, cervical, breast, prostate and colon cancers away. 
• Arugula is packed with vitamin K, among other vitamins. Vitamin K aids in bone health and helps to keep your blood healthy.
• Arugula is a great source of fiber too. 
• And if you're not convinced yet, you might like to know that the ancient Roman and Egyptian civilizations considered arugula to be an aphrodisiac. What's not to love? (No pun intended)

When buying arugula, it's important to buy organic. This leafy green tends to hold onto lots of dirt and pesticides. The bad news is those pesticides are absorbed into the leaves, so even washing them won't solve the problem. The good news is organic arugula is not that much more expensive (especially at your local Trader's Joe's), and if you don't have a local Trader Joe's, well then, we have much larger problems.



Here's my recipe for a quick, easy and nutrition-packed pita pizza...

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and gather whatever ingredients your heart so desires. I chose to make a bella mushroom and baby zucchini pizza topped with fresh arugula. Chop the veggies up to your desired size for toppings.

On a non-stick pan, place your whole-wheat pitas (extra healthy!) and drizzle or brush very lightly with olive oil. You can also chop up garlic to sprinkle on your crust.

Now, top your pizzas with the spaghetti sauce of your choice. Homemade would always be better, but sometimes this girl is just pressed for time! My staple sauce is Classico Traditional Sweet Basil.

Now, create a masterpiece with your toppings of choice. Don't be afraid to pile them on.

Every good pizza needs spices... sprinkle a little bit of everything lightly on top! I used a pinch of garlic salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes and basil.

Now pop your pizza into the oven for about 15 minutes, depending on your oven. Keep an eye on it. You'll want to take it out once the crust looks a little brown and crispy and the toppings have almost cooked completely.

Now, thinly slice your fresh mozzarella. This makes all the difference!

Take your pizza out of the oven and spread the mozzarella slices on top. Turn your oven to broil and cook for approximately 5 more minutes, until the cheese has melted to your liking. You broil it so that JUST the top cooks, while keeping the crust and veggies from cooking more than they should.

Pull those suckers out and try to have some self control...we still have to add the most important ingredient!

Top with fresh arugula. I chose baby arugula because it's pretty cute.

Plate that pizza and impress someone. You're done.

Here are two more recipes to get you started...


ARUGULA WITH ORZO AND GARDEN TOMATOES:
http://www.thekitchn.com/dinner-quick-arugula-with-orzo-67387

Image courtesy of thekitchn.com

ROASTED SPRING VEGETABLES WITH ARUGULA PESTO:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/spring_vegetables_arugula_pesto.html

Image courtesy of eatingwell.com