A signature vegetable of the coldest months of the year, cabbage isn’t very popular, but it does have some advantages: you can use it to make hot dishes—farcellets or stuffed cabbage, trinxat or white cabbage gratin and blue cheese—or cold as, for example, an Asian coleslaw, with carrots and parsley or with celeriac and parsnips, it keeps for several days in the fridge and is sufficient (one cabbage feeds your family and your neighbors).
This time we mix it with orange caramelized nuts with a spicy touch and a thyme vinaigrette. Let’s do it in parts. First the cabbage: I used white cabbage, but it can also be prepared with red cabbage. Whatever you choose, it can be too difficult to eat comfortably raw. So if you have time, I recommend softening it with salt as directed in the recipe. It’s a pure osmotic process: when you add salt to a vegetable, it rips out some of its water and loses some structure (something you should do with cabbage, but not lettuce). At the same time, the cabbage seasons, so there are two points in favor of this process.
Second, the caramelized nuts: They’re easy to make, but you can just toast them if you don’t feel like that step or don’t want to eat sugar. The spiciness of peppers pairs really well with cabbage – an example of this is kimchi – but you don’t have to give it to them with that spice, you can substitute a few drops of whatever hot sauce you like to add to the dressing and chimpun.
The other ingredients and steps in this recipe have no science whatsoever. If you don’t like oranges or simply don’t have them at home, you can also prepare this salad with tangerine or grapefruit. Regarding thyme, I highly recommend that you use it fresh as its aroma is lighter, more herbaceous and lemony than the dried one. This salad goes very well with meat or fish with a certain amount of fat: a grilled saddle of salmon or pork ribs could be perfect for you.
difficulty
Find fresh thyme.
Ingredients
For 4 people, as a side dish
- 500 g white cabbage
- 1 orange
- 100 g nuts of your choice
- 50 grams of white sugar
- 50 grams of water
- 1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika powder
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- fine salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
Julienne the cabbage very thinly and place in a bowl. Add salt – the same amount you would use for seasoning – mix well and set aside in the fridge for at least an hour.
Mix the water and sugar in a saucepan, bring to the boil and do not stir anymore. When the sugar has completely dissolved and the syrup is a viscous consistency, remove from heat (if you have a thermometer, do it when it reaches 117°C). Add the nuts and stir until the sugar crystallizes. Return the saucepan to the stove and wait until the sugar is caramelized and light brown, stirring occasionally. Add the paprika powder and a pinch of salt and stir. Spread the nuts as far apart as possible on a piece of baking paper and leave to cool.
Peel the orange quickly – at minute 1:08 of this video Mikel López Iturriaga shows you how it’s done – cut the segments into two or three pieces and reserve a few whole ones for decoration.
Squeeze the remaining orange zest into a bowl or jar with a lid. Add the oil, the leaves of two or three sprigs of fresh thyme, the mustard, a pinch of salt – the cabbage already has it – and freshly ground black pepper. Mix everything very well until emulsified, meaning all the ingredients are well integrated.
Season the cabbage and mix well: let it sit for between 30 minutes and an hour if you want to soften it even more. Add the chopped orange fillets and some of the chopped sugared nuts and mix gently.
Serve and finish with the whole orange fillets, more chopped nuts and a few extra thyme leaves.
If you make this recipe, share the result on your social networks with the hashtag #RecipesComidista. And if it goes wrong, complain to the Defender of the Cook by sending an email to [email protected].