In the winter, I buy cabbages at the grocery story and I like an oil and vinegar dressing, preferably with some citrus. In the summer, I buy cabbages at the farmers’ market and I like a traditional creamy dressing. I lighten it up a bit by using equal parts mayonnaise and yogurt cheese for the creamy part. The rest of the ingredients are apple cider vinegar, sugar, and pepper — all added to make the texture and taste appealing.

Yesterday’s version turned out extra pretty with two purple carrots from the farmers’ market that I grated and some flat-leaf parsley from my garden that I chopped.

A festive salad made with local cabbage, carrots, and parsley

I learned the secret of good cabbage salad from Mark Bittman’s book, Food Matters — layer the sliced cabbage in a colander with salt and let it rest for an hour or so. That softens the texture to make it more pleasant for eating raw.

I like the fluffy seed head left behind after the petals fall away.

Here’s a bonus photo of one of my last remaining clematis flowers.

This is my post for Weekend Cooking. Check out Beth Fish Reads today for more culinary posts around the web.