Pesto Butter Pasta with Slow-Simmered Cherry Tomatoes
A warm bowl of angel hair tossed with pesto butter and topped with sweet slow-simmered cherry tomatoes — simple, glossy, and deeply comforting.
NJ Health Salad; Tangy Foil for Every Meal
A crisp, sweet, and tangy chopped salad that tastes like the American cousin of the pickles you find on Asian tables. Bright, refreshing, and the perfect foil for rich or heavy meals. Keeps well for days and upgrades almost anything you serve it with.
New Jersey Health Salad
I have always loved how on so many Asian tables there is always something pickled. Something bright. Something crunchy. Something that resets your palate and lets the next bite hit clean. This salad is my American equivalent. It is quick, tangy, and goes with almost anything. It makes rich or heavy dishes taste better by cutting right through them.
It is basically kimchi for white people, the friendliest non fermented cousin of the real thing, and it absolutely upgrades the meal. It also keeps well for three to four days in the fridge, and the flavor gets even better on day two.
Ingredients
1/2 green cabbage, chopped
1 carrot, thinly sliced
2 mini cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 white onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
A pinch of chili flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Step 1
Chop all vegetables and place them in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2
Bring the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, olive oil, garlic, and chili flakes to a boil. Simmer until the sugar dissolves.
Step 3
Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the vegetables. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for two hours, stirring occasionally, until lightly pickled and crisp.
Serving Notes
This works with almost every meal. Anything with meat. Anything with beans. Anything rich or heavy that needs brightness and crunch. It is refreshing, simple, and makes the whole plate taste better.
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