I don’t know what my body is trying to tell me, but I seem to have developed a high taste for all things Brassicaceae, and recently I’ve been hankering for cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, and cabbages of all stripes.

I have made so many batches of Cauliflower à la Mary Celeste my oven has stopped counting; I have stir-fried broccoli together with sweet potatoes; I have sliced raw kohlrabi to top with seaweed tartare (the one from The French Market Cookbook) and cubed it for a lentil salad; I have roasted Savoy cabbage and planted kale on my mini-balcony, dreaming of the 50 things I can do with it; I have roasted green cabbage with summer’s last bulbs of fennel and fall’s first heads of potimarron; and I have been making lots and lots and lots of cabbage slaws.

Such sliced cabbage salads are the most effortless way to transform a head of green cabbage into something fresh and satisfying to go with your hard-boiled eggs or your cold roast chicken.

Sliced cabbage salads are the most effortless way to transform a head of green cabbage into something fresh and satisfying to go with your cold roast chicken.

You just need to think of it a little bit in advance, as the perfect coleslaw requires the cabbage to sit for an hour with some salt to relax. This step is key in making the salad crunchy but not agressively so, and helps to season the cabbage thoroughly.

Coleslaws are open to any number of variations, but my recent favorite is this one, flavored with fresh ginger and dill. The combination was serendipitous at first — an open-the-fridge-and-see-what-we-got sort of inspiration — but I have gone out of my way to reproduce it since then, so zesty and aromatic it was.

I sometimes make vegan slaws with my simple tahini sauce, but the dressing for this particular version involves mayonnaise: not the bucketloads called for in some recipes, but enough to satisfy. I confess I don’t make my own mayonnaise for this, but rather use a very tasty store-bought mayo I recently discovered at the organic store; you can use plain yogurt if you like that better.

And although I have sometimes used my mandolin to produce wispy strands of cabbage, I find I prefer the texture of a coarser cut, sliced by hand with a sharp knife.

Join the conversation!

Are you obsessed with cruciferous vegetables too? What have you been making? And what do you put in your ideal cabbage slaw?

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To celebrate the 10th anniversary of C&Z, I am hosting 10 giveaways throughout the month of October. Keep checking back for chances to win cool prizes that have left a mark on me over the past decade!

Our fifth giveaway prize is a bundle of my three books:
– my latest book, The French Market Cookbook, celebrates the love story between French cuisine and vegetables,
– my first cookbook, Chocolate & Zucchini, illustrates the way Parisians cook today,
– my book on Paris restaurants and food shops, Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris, provides invaluable tips on how to navigate the Paris food scene and make the most of your stay.

My publisher Clarkson Potter is offering to send you one copy of each of those three books. I myself will mail you signed bookplates in the name(s) of your choosing, so you can place them inside the books to personalize them. (Remember you can order signed bookplates at any time.)

To participate, leave a comment below (in English or in French) telling me about your favorite recipe from C&Z, whether it’s from the site or one of my books. And if you’re on Facebook, please consider liking the Crown Publishing page (and the C&Z page, too!).

You have until Monday, October 21, midnight Paris time to enter; I will then draw one entry randomly and announce it here. My publisher has generously agreed to ship internationally, so you’re welcome to play regardless of your location; please make sure you enter your email address correctly so I can contact you if you win.

Good luck! And check back on Thursday for a new giveaway.

WE GOT A WINNER!

I have drawn an entry at random using random.org (see screen capture below), and I am pleased to announce the winner is Rachel D.J., who nominated my Lentil Kohlrabi Salad as her favorite.

Congratulations Rachel, and thank you all for entering! It’s been gratifying and fascinating to hear about all of your favorites.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of C&Z, I am hosting 10 giveaways throughout the month of October. Keep checking back for chances to win wonderful products I’ve discovered and loved over the past decade!

Our fourth giveaway prize is an Original Cinnamon Lovers Pack from Cinnamon Hill, which includes:
– one box of Ceylon cinnamon (contains five 5-inch sticks),
– one box of Saigon cinnamon (contains five 5-inch sticks),
– a beautiful honey oak cinnamon grater,
– a hand-made ceramic cup to keep the grater and a couple of sticks of cinnamon on your counter or table.

Cinnamon Hill is a British company based in Lancashire that specializes in sourcing and selling the highest-quality, freshest cinnamon from Sri Lanka and Vietnam — ordinary cinnamon usually comes from China or Indonesia. Each pack is marked with the harvest date of the cinnamon, and the cinnamon sticks are individually wrapped (in biodegradable cellophane) to preserve their vibrant flavor.

For this giveaway, Rupert Beeley of Cinnamon Hill is offering this beautiful gift pack that allows you to sample and compare both kinds of cinnamon, grated fresh on the special cinnamon grater that they designed — the grater is a unique tool, entirely made in England from sustainably cultivated wood and laser-etched stainless steel.

To participate, leave a comment below (in English or in French) telling me about your favorite use for cinnamon. And if you’re on Facebook, please consider liking the Cinnamon Hill page (and the C&Z page, too!).

You have until Thursday, October 17, midnight Paris time to enter; I will then draw one entry randomly and announce it here. Rupert has generously agreed to ship internationally, so you’re welcome to play regardless of your location; please make sure you enter your email address correctly so I can contact you if you win.

Good luck! And check back on Monday for a new giveaway.

WE GOT A WINNER! I have drawn an entry at random using random.org (see screen capture below), and I am pleased to announce the winner is Michelle of Boulderneigh, who said her favorite carrier for cinnamon is a really good cinnamon roll.

Congratulations Michelle, and thank you all for entering with such imaginative cinnamon uses! I’m so inspired I will compile them into a list to share with you very soon.

* Disclosure: Rupert has sent me samples of both kinds of cinnamon for tasting, with no obligation to write about them. All opinions expressed are my own.

In 2005, Maxence and I traveled to New York so I could meet with the editor who would be publishing my first cookbook. I had just given notice at my office, and I only had a few more weeks to go before I made the jump to full-time writer. The trip crystallized this momentous turning point, and we enjoyed it accordingly.

My editor invited my agent and me to Jean-Georges for a sublime lunch in the sun-drenched dining room, and eight years later I still remember it in great detail. One of the things that stuck with me the most was the fresh pineapple that was carved table-side and served as a pre-dessert.

I almost clapped at the picture-perfect slices the waiter brought to us, flecked with crystallized mint and rose petals.

Working from a nearby cart, our waiter sliced off the bottom of the fruit, stuck two facing forks in it to serve as a handle, and conducted the rest of the procedure in mid-air: wielding a knife effortlessly in his right hand, he sliced off the outer bark, then carved out the eyes in a spiral ribbon all around the pineapple. I was amazed by his dexterity, and almost clapped at the picture-perfect slices he then brought to us, flecked with crystallized mint and rose petals.

It is the spirit of that waiter that I tried to channel as I carved my own pineapple for a dessert of roasted pineapple I recently served. I winged it from memory and was pretty pleased with the result, but if you want to try it yourself, I recommend this video and Elise’s instructions. (Instead of tossing the trimmings, run them in a blender and filter to make pineapple juice.)

Once I’d carved the pineapple, I sliced it into six wedges, and brushed them with a honey and vanilla syrup infused with the spectacular vanilla that I use, and spiked with a little rum and lemon juice. The wedges went into the oven until the fruit was softened, its juices concentrated and verging on caramelization.

I considered serving the wedges with a dab of crème fraîche or a scoop of coconut ice cream, but instead opted to make the coconut “whipped cream” I’d been reading about. The idea is to retain only the solids from a can of coconut milk, and whip it like you would ordinary whipping cream. (I found this tutorial helpful, especially the can-flipping trick.)

The coconut whipped cream was a revelation: fluffy and delicious, it didn’t need any sort of flavoring or sweetening. It served as the perfect companion to my roasted pineapple, but I can see it adorning an apple slice or a wedge of chocolate cake just as beautifully.

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