Anyway, we bought a non-organic cabbage and compare it against it’s healthy organic cousin ( and no, I refuse to say head to head).

Well, the first thing we noticed is that the Organic variety looks more real, alive and fresh. The non-organic cabbage on the right looks like it’s had a hard life. Lots of chemicals and not enough clean living. Actually it looks like a tired old man and that’s a sad thing to see. But am I sure I want to eat that thing?

Yeah I’m sure that I don’t. … This guy has nothing to offer me but trouble. Nothing I can prove mind you, but he just makes me uncomfortable. Anyway, here’s some background on the life of some non-organic cabbages. First, growing up on these massive farms they are targeted by a variety of nasties including (the cabbage looper, diamondback moth, imported cabbageworm etc…). And these pests are smart. For instance “Most of the eggs of the foliage feeding caterpillars are laid on the under-surfaces of the leaves and the larvae, until mature tend to feed on the underside of the foliage..”. So to combat this “Insecticides should be sprayed in high volume solutions …” “… at high pressure…” and “… spreading and sticking agents should also be used to improve coverage.” (the complete page from the University of Kentucky is here). … And then after this war is fought the cabbage is sent to our local supermarkets.

Now, in contrast the Organic cabbage is one lucky beast. No artificial fertilizers and no insecticides. Living cleanly off the natural land. The living was good and it shows. Just look at this guy. Isn’t that one good looking head of organic cabbage? And these good looks go beyond being just skin deep. No chemicals on it, no chemicals in me and I like that. And this is especially important for cabbage which is probably the most commonly eaten raw veggie due to the invention of coleslaw (and actually for most people the ONLY raw veggie that will ever touch their lips). And, you know as well as I do, that the average cook is not going to do a great job of washing leaves prior to shredding (and they might not even wash it at all). … SO… I’d just say no to coleslaw unless it’s organic (you know, maybe this should be your “go to” volunteer dish).

Now you should go organic because you and your family deserve it.  Also, please learn to respect this blahsay vegetable on St Patty’s Day and throughout the rest of the year as well. After all, Broccoli, Kale and Cauliflower are just a few veggies that are nothing more than selective breeding of cabbage. Yes my friends, you may already love cabbage but it’s just a funky variety of it with a different name.

Now if you like this post and think of some else would too (or they make the cold slaw) please share it with them & help spread the word. Hopefully 2010 readership will continue to grow and provide some level of support to free up time to work on www.OrganicTestKitchen.com and another cooking site. And also, thanks so much for all your support throughout these years. Have a great day!

Shopping list:

• 1 Medium Organic Rutabaga
• 2 Medium Organic Yellow Onions 
• 1 Bulb (not clove!) of Organic Garlic
• 3 Medium Organic Carrots
• 1/2 Bunch of Organic Swiss Chard
• 1 Pound of Organic Spinach
• 1/2 Bunch of Organic Collard Greens

 Recipe

• Fill a Large Saucepan 1/3 Full of Spring Water
• Set on a high heat and cover
• Start Washing, Peeling and Chopping the Veggies. Remove all tough stems
• Take the greens and put in a pile on the cutting board
• Using your chef’s knife, cut re-bunch and cut until you have a small-ish pieces
• Chop your other veggies into fairly small pieces as well
• Add your tough to cook veggies first to the now boiling water. This would be the Rutabaga and carrots. Note: BE CAREFUL when adding veggies to boiling water. The water could splash and you could get badly burned!
• Add the other non-greens
• Finally add your greens
• Once the boil has been reachieved cover and cook for about 13 minutes. Cook to your liking. I like the veggies done but not mushy.
• While this is cooking peel and chop your bulb of Garlic. Set aside.
• When the veggies are done pour through a strainer. BE CRAREFUL. No small children underfoot and use some sort of safe hand protection.
• After you poured the veggies through a large strainer
• Add the garlic on top of the veggies
• Using a large metal spoon mix the veggies together. Be Careful not to get a steam burn. When you encounter the greens use some sideways action to try to tear them apart (they tend to get tangled)
• When cool enough to eat put in a serving bowl, sprinkle the top with Feta Cheese, add some Olive Oil and Sea Salt and toss together… Wonderful! Enjoy!
• After goofing-off from eating what you made transfer the rest to a large storage bowl
• Let cool and then place in the frig (covered of course).
• Then when you want a fast veggie fix take out what you need and prep. It’s cool and good in the Summer and come the cold weather just heat up a serving on the stove with a little water before adding the Cheese, Olive Oil and Sea Salt.

 Let’s face it, you’re probably more likely to have your veggies if you cook a bunch ahead of time and dress them up with some Feta, Olive Oil and Sea Salt. And this is less expensive and infinitely better than all those pre-packaged disasters known as convenience dishes “found in your grocer’s frozen food isle”. Give this recipe to your favorite microwave dinner junkie and if they’re trying to loose weight advise them not to use a pound of cheese and a gallon of oil. Worse case is that when you visit you’d have something decent to eat.

Shopping List:

• 2 lbs of Organic Carrots
• 1/2 teaspoon of Unrefined Sea Salt
• 2 cups of Spring Water
• 3 Tablespoons of Organic Unsalted Butter
• 1 1/4 Tablespoon Of Unrefined Organic Sugar
• Enough Fresh Organic Parsley to yield 3 Tablespoons when chopped

Recipe:

• Place 2 cups of Spring Water into a Saucepan, set aside.
• Peel 2 lbs. of Carrots, slice and place into the Saucepan with the water.
• Add 1/2 Teaspoon of Salt to the Saucepan.
• Measure and place 2 Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter into the Saucepan.
• Measure and place 1 1/4 Tablespoons of Sugar into the Saucepan.
• Cover the Saucepan and turn on the heat to bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat so that it remains at a low boil. Cook for approximately 30 minutes but keep an eye on things to make sure all the liquid doesn’t boiled away. Or said another way… cook until the carrots are cooked.
• While the carrots are cooking finely chop the parsley to give you 3 Tablespoons worth. Set aside.
• Measure 1 Tablespoon of Unsalted Butter. Let it set out to warm and soften.
• When the carrots are done remove and place into a bowl. Add the parsley and butter and toss around until all the butter has melted and the parsley gets evenly distributed.
• Taste and add more seasoning as you see fit.

 There you have it. Hey, if you can take an extra step to dress up your carrots then why not? Share this post with your friends who are still in the canned carrots stage as part of their personal awakening into the world of good food.

Related Posts:

• Are Your Veggies Firm?
• French Gourmet Organic Garlic Mashed Potatoes

 Well the first item isn’t something that most of you would consider as “something new”. It just the plain old red pepper, not the hot variety but just the red cousin of the green pepper.. sold in just about every supermarket in the civilized world. But, let me ask you this, when’s the last time you’ve incorporated this food ingredient into your cooking? Probably awhile. Most of us (especially myself) get into food ruts. There was some study somewhere that showed that we tend to purchase the same very limited variety of food items week in and week out. What a shame since such an incredible assortment is available at reasonable prices right at our fingertips. Anyways, the red pepper…

 The red pepper has a mild but distinct flavor and a terrific color.. It does very well in a variety of dishes .. buy a red pepper for the next time you make rice. Chop semi-small and add to the rice as it’s midway in the cooking cycle (earlier if you want a more fully cooked pepper). Cut into longer pieces and slowly saute in olive oil and use it as a veggie topping for a hamburg or you might want take a piece of a French Baguette with olive oil and top with some sauteed red peppers. .. nice.. You get the idea. ..

  By adding red peppers to your normal repertoire you can take your existing dishes and create variations to provide a nice change of pace. And of course if you want to really ramp things go for the heat and start using the red repper’s hot cousins, the chiles.

 Hope you like the post. Been swamped by business when what I’d really like to do is cook and write about cooking. The blog is growing very well and thanks to everyone. Hope you have a great one, Theo

Related Posts:

• Try Adding Fresh Organic Peppers to Spice Things Up
• Chile Pepper Primer (How Common Peppers Rate On The Heat Scale)

 Here’s how:

• Put a saucepan with water on the heat and bring to a boil
• We’re going to need about one densely packed cup of uncooked green veggies. So get your favorites. Some suggestions are Fresh Organic Spinach, Scallions, Watercress and Green Peppers…
• You’re also going to have to add some serious flavor enhancers. So again look to your favorites. Some suggestions are Fresh Organic Parsley, Basil and Tarragon
• Keep your greens separate and chop (but not too fine we’ll need to run these through a strainer later on
• Add the greens that need more time cooking to the now boiling water (be careful not to splash.. you can get severely burned)
• Cook these until tender
• Add the other easy to cook greens to the boiling water
• Cook for about a minute in the boiling water
• Remove from the boiling water
• Run the veggies through a strainer and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking
• Press out the excess water
• Add to a blender and puree (do this with the back side of a spoon so you don’t get burned with still trapped boiling water)
• Add this to about 2 1/2 cups of organic mayonnaise (don’t do this in the blender .. just add both ingredients to a large bowl and stir by hand to blend together)
• Adjust flavoring to your liking and if necessary with some additional tarragon and other spices

 That’s it, hope you enjoy. Don’t forget Mayonnaise is a potential home to a plethora of unfriendly bacteria that can get you extremely sick or if you are weak even kill you. So for this reason do not serve to youngsters, the elderly or anyone who’s health is in a weakened state. For everyone else make it and use it up. Personally, this is easy enough to make so that I just make it as I need it. .. Just don’t want anyone getting sick out there..

 If you like this post send to a friend and subscribe for free (upper right hand side of the page). (but if you don’t like the post don’t tell anyone )

 Well I just had a large cereal bowl of veggies and I’m telling the truth that it was absolutely delicious. Seriously. .. Anyway here’s what I did and you should seriously consider trying this at least once. They just taste so much better than the ugly stepchild of a side dish with a little butter rubbed on top that you usually experience.

 Here’s the deal. Start out with this combo and modify as your taste buds dictate.

Recipe:

• Take out a large saucepan with cover
• Peel & Cut into Pieces the following veggies
• 1/2 Organic Turnip
• 3 Organic Carrots
• 4 Medium Organic Potatoes
• 3 Medium Onions
• Some Cabbage (after you slice from the head and chop a bit separate into the individual leaves before adding to the sauce pan
• Add water, cover and bring to a boil
• After a boil has been achieved cook for about 14 minutes. You want the veggies cooked but not mushy. Use the carrots and turnips as your gauge. They are the hardest to cook and should be at the bottom of the pan directly in the boiling water. If you use a really big sauce pan they will take longer to cook
• Transfer the Veggies into a large metal mixing bowl. Remove the Veggies but leave as much of the water behind as possible. I like using a Slotted Metal Spoon for this.
• Take out a large cereal bowl and almost full with the veggies
• Add Extra Virgin Organic Olive Oil to the top
• Carefully toss so all the Veggies have Oil
• Sprinkle on some Sea Salt
• Toss
• Sprinkle with some more Sea Salt if you want.
• Toss again & Enjoy.

 Now I just came in from the Supermarket (Haddock on Sale). Put the bags aside took out a sauce pan, a large cereal bowl and my slotted metal spoon. Pulled a large mixing bowl with previously cooked veggies out of the frig. Filled the bowl to measure what I needed. Tossed these Veggies into the sauce pan. Added a little water, covered and turned the heat on high. Then the food was put away, boots taken off and slippers put on. By then the veggies were heated up. So I put them in the bowl, tossed in some Olive Oil & Sea Salt and here I sit writing, happy as a clam.

 Maybe you remember Mikey from the old Life Cereals.. “Try it, you’ll like it”. Hey, try it, you’ll like it. Trust me on this one.

 If you like this post why not share with a friend? But even if you don’t like the post I hope you give this a try. It’s cold up here in New England (it will be a balmy 20F tonight). But some Veggies and a heavy quilt will keep me happy. Anyway, some related posts are as follows. Have a good week.

Related Posts:

• Are Your Veggies Firm?
• Organic Potato Primer
• Home Cooked Veggies As A Convenience Food

 This morning I made a pot of vegi’s that I would eat right away and also reheat and feed on later in the day. Cooked them just to my liking and they were not mushed by the additional reheat to follow (just had the second half a few minutes ago and they were terrific). Well, in addition to watching the cooking time I fed in the harder to cook vegi’s first so they’d be in direct contact with the water and let the more yielding  wait for last and sit on the top where they would steam and have that lid right above to help bring down the temp a degree or two.

 So first in were the turnips, carrots and the last in were the onions and the potatoes (couldn’t fit the cabbage, too much of the other stuff). And after the cooking was finished I got the guys right out of there using a slotted metal spoon so they could be drained of the boiling water before being place in the stainless bowl. That way, no additional cooking took place as they were sitting and cooling.

  And I know, .. from this blog entry you might think I just invented a cure for cancer or something. .. But I guess the point is you could take two identical pots of vegi’s and just from cooking a mere 10 minutes longer on one you’d get a decidedly different and mushier outcome. .. The details, that were the magic of cooking a fantastic dish vs an alright one resides.

 Well if you like this share the joy. Tell a friend about us and send them this post. But be careful they may be the sensitive type who’ll think you’re trying to give them a hint or something about their overcooking. .. Thanks & be well.

Shopping List:

• 3 pounds of Fresh Organic Spinach
• Spring Water for Cleaning the Spinach, Cooking & Cooling
• 2 Tablespoon of Sea Salt
• 2 Tablespoons of Organic Unsalted Butter 
• Dash of Organic Nutmeg

Recipe:

• FYI: do not use Cast Iron or Aluminum Cookware with Spinach as they will effect the taste. 
• Fill a large cooking kettle with Spring Water but not too high, this water will be set to a boil and you want the level low enough so it is safe and you do not get splashed and severely burned by the hot water. By the way, your kids should also be kept away from the stove to prevent them from getting severely burned. 
• Add 2 Tablespoons of Sea Salt to the water.
• Put the water on high to bring to a full boil. 
•  While the water is heating up sort through the Spinach to remove any leaves that are having a tough day…you know the wilted, funky looking, discolored ones.
• Wash the Spinach with Spring Water (I like to use a large mixing bowl full of water to soak and agitate the Spinach while submerged. Next rinse the leaves. Do this in batches until all the Spinach is clean..Spinach as you know has many crevices that tend to hold sand).
• Cut the stems from the Spinach and set aside.
• Drop the Spinach into the rapidly boiling water in a safe and controlled manner so that there is no splashing. A little at a time is best.
• After the Spinach is added and the water regains a full boil let it cook for 5 minutes.
• While cooking, fill a large stainless bowl or kettle with Cold Spring Water
• Turn off the heat and safely remove the Spinach from the boiling water into the bowl of Cold Spring Water.
• Once cool remove the Spinach from the Cold Water and squeeze it as dry as possible.
• Chop the the cooled Spinach into small pieces using your chef’s knife and a cutting board or a food processor (but if going the food processor route be careful no to overdo it and liquefy the Spinach..this is “Not-Good”). Set the Cooled and Chopped Spinach aside.
• Take out a stainless steel or enameled saucepan.
• Add 2 Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter.
• Place on medium heat to melt the butter.
• Add the Chopped Spinach and cook for about 3 minutes while stirring in the pan.
• Remove from heat and season to taste with a dash of Ground Nutmeg as well as Sea Salt & Ground Black Pepper.

Shopping List:

• Organic Russet Potatoes
• Organic Butter
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Grated Swiss Cheese

Recipe:

• Bake the potatoes until done
• Split and remove the flesh. Place in a medium mixing bowl
• Add Sea Salt, Fresh Ground Black Pepper, Butter and a small amount of Heavy Cream.
• Break up the potatoes and mix all ingredients together (I generally use a wooden spoon to do this)
• Place your oven rack to the next notch higher than the middle position
• Turn on the oven broiler
• Melt some butter in a medium frying pan. Remove from heat and transfer to a container that can withstand heat.
• Add some Heavy Cream to the container and mix together.
• Return the medium frying pan to the burner and add additional butter. When melted add the potato mixture.
• Fry until the bottom is browned
• Remove from the pan using a spatula and transfer to a baking dish (uncooked side up)
• Add the butter/cream mixture previously prepared to the top of the potatoes
• Top off with the grated Swiss Cheese
• Place the baking dish in the oven under the broiler
• Watch closely and remove when browned

 This is sort of evil but good.

Related Link:

• Organic Potato Primer (Types of Potatoes and Their Uses)