Cabbage is one of those vegetables that goes largely unloved while scientists tell us about its nutrient load, health benefits and even cancer-fighting properties. It’s also cheap and it stores well, which means it’s abundant during the colder months. In short, if we had more delicious cabbage recipes everyone would be happy and there would be world peace. Ladies and gentlemen, I humbly submit this cabbage salad from Nancy Singleton Hachisu’s excellent book Japanese Farm Food. It combines the crunch and sharpness of the cabbage with the almost creamy nuttiness of toasted sesame seeds and the lightness of the citrus juice. In my family everyone gobbles up cabbage when it's prepared this way, including little Lina since she was barely a year old.

Nancy’s original recipe is for napa cabbage but I find it works just as well for other cabbage varieties provided you slice them thinly with a mandoline. I think the recipe slightly favors green cabbages, but red cabbages are good too.

For the citrus juice Nancy uses Meyer lemons, which are less acidic than true lemons. In fact Meyer lemons are thought to be a cross between regular lemons and oranges or mandarins. If you can’t easily find Meyer lemons, you can approximate the flavor by mixing lemon and orange juice.