Spectacular Winter Salad with Gremolata!

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This is adapted from the Cabbage and Radish Slaw on Food52. Thinly slice some cabbage, green or red. Or you could julienne some turnips instead, or kohlrabi, or well-scrubbed Jerusalem artichokes. Coat the cabbage (or whatever) with gremolata (see winter greens gremolata recipe in post just below), and add in some mashed Garlic Confit (see instructions below) and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. Stir well, then sprinkle very thinly sliced radishes over the salad. (Using a mandoline slicer, available at department stores or online, makes it really easy to slice most veggies quite thinly, or to shred or julienne them, i.e., make them matchstick-like). The author of the recipe suggests tucking the salad into wraps, either alone or w/ "gooey pulled pork." You also could substitute cheese or hard-boiled eggs or flavored tofu, etc., for the pork.

Garlic Confit--This is a recipe from "Dash and Bella," a beautifully poetic blog about cooking and raising a child.

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• 3 whole heads of garlic, cloves separated; leave skins on
• olive oil
• salt
• a sprig of thyme or rosemary, if desired

Poke a small hole in each garlic clove with the tip of a paring knife, so they don't explode as you cook them. Put the unpeeled garlic cloves in a large, heavy pot and cover with olive oil. Add salt and/or herbs, or not, as you choose. Put the pot on a back burner and bring to boil--do NOT let your own face or child's face anywhere near the pot!!! (You remember that whole mediaeval thing about boiling oil...?! It was a torture you def. want to avoid.) Reduce the heat to low the second it boils, so it doesn't sputter. Gently simmer the cloves about 20 minutes, then test one with the tip of a paring knife. The cloves should be soft all the way through. Let them cool to room temp. (Be sure to save the oil for salad dressing or other oily uses!)

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They're ready to use now. To be decadent (oh, why not??), you can suck them right out of the skins, or you can do it primly and properly by squeezing the contents of some cloves onto French bread or into soup/stew, or you can use it in the Winter Salad above. The cloves, in the skins, will keep in the fridge for several weeks as long as they're completely covered with the oil.

Here are three other uses for garlic confit from Dash and Bella:  1) Corn, Cherry Tomato, Arugula, and Spinach Salad;  2) Garlic Confit Vinaigrette;  3) Lime Potatoes with Poached Eggs (that one makes me feel weak in the knees.). The recipes can be found at the bottom of the post on garlic confit.  Bon appetit!

Winter Greens Gremolata

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Traditionally (see left), gremolata is a condiment made with finely chopped raw parsley, lemon, and garlic; it has a wide range of uses and really perks up whatever you eat it with (yes, I know, don't end a sentence with a preposition).  But here's a kicked-up wintertime version from FOOD 52 (the crowd-sourced recipe compilation) that's much more substantial; it incorporates greens we're growing in the hoophouse, which are lightly cooked (blanched in boiling water) first.

Winter Greens Gremolata--makes ~2 cups

• 1 bunch arugula
• 1 bunch Italian parsley
• 1 bunch Lacinto [or other] kale
• 1 tbsp kosher salt, for the blanching water
• 6 anchovy fillets (vegetarians or those who dislike anchovies can substitute pitted kalamata olives)
• 6 peeled garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon zest [that's an important ingredient for the flavor]
• 2 tbsp capers, drained of brine
• 2 tsp white-wine vinegar or champagne vinegar [I'm sure you won't ruin this if you use a less pricy white vinegar]
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• kosher salt, to taste

Bring large pot of water to boil. Trim any heavy stems from your greens. Add 1 tbsp kosher salt to boiling water & turn down to simmer. Toss in kale & blanch 5 minutes, stirring a bit. Remove kale w/ tongs and put in colander over large bowl. In the same pot of simmering water, blanch parsley & arugula for 1 minute only. With tongs, remove greens from water & add to draining kale; allow greens to cool a bit, then form them into a ball & squeeze out remaining liquid into the bowl. [I would save that vitamin-packed water for use in a broth, rather than discarding.] Put greens into the bowl of a food processor.

With mortar & pestle [or flat side of heavy knife on a cutting board] mash the garlic & anchovies into a paste & add to food processor, along with lemon juice, lemon zest, capers, vinegar, & olive oil. Whiz at least 30 seconds. Taste & adjust flavors (salt, lemon, vinegar) to suit your taste. Pulverize again till gremolata is relatively smooth.

You can keep in a jar in the fridge w/ a thin layer of olive oil atop, though the gremolata will lose some of its bright color. Or you can freeze it in a jar or ice cube tray, in which case it retains its bright green color. Defrost at room temp. about an hour before using.

This gremolata is great on fish, chicken, pasta, rice, you name it; it's also the basis of a fine winter salad of cabbage, cilantro, and radishes--yum!  See the post, above, for that salad.