California Heartland visited Teixeira Farms in Santa Maria. They grow about 1,000 acres of cabbage year-round, both red and green varieties. Teixeira Farms also grows broccoli and cauliflower, among other things. These three vegetables are all a part of the mustard family. They are known as cruciferous vegetables because cruciferous refers to the Latin word for cross. All of these plants have cross-shaped flowers.

In shopping for a cabbage, Allan Teixeira says you should look for a nice, round head that is free of insects and disease and doesn’t have a lot of spotting. Cabbage is a hearty vegetable that is high in vitamin C.

The Teixeira’s are a hearty family. A fourth generation farming family, they farm 3,700 acres around Santa Maria and an additional 6 ranches in the Imperial Valley. Their cabbage is grown for the fresh and processing markets and some is exported to Hong Kong, Thailand and Russia. You can visit their website at www.teixeirafarms.com.

The Teixeira’s have been very progressive in their pursuit of food safety. They have been in partnership with primuslabs.com (their name is also their web address), food safety consultants, for more than a decade. This partnership helps to ensure worker and consumer safety.

Here’s a cabbage recipe supplied to us by Teixeira Farms.

Coleslaw

Recipe courtesy of Cecilia Teixeira, Teixeira Farms, Inc.

Ingredients
1 large head of chopped cabbage
1/3 cup milk (whole or reduced fat)
1 cup mayonnaise
3 T. sugar
1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar

Instructions

Chop 1 large head of cabbage. Set aside. In a salad dressing shaker or covered jar, mix the milk, mayonnaise and sugar. Shake until the sugar dissolves (this takes about 1 minute). Then add the rice vinegar. Shake to mix and pour over prepared cabbage.

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