Creative Cabbage from a Malibu Caterer

Malibu caterer Diana Temple has a rich history with a variety of foods, beginning with her start as a budding cook for her family growing up on Las Flores Beach (at that time called Dog Beach), and continuing through her on-the-job training in the kitchens of five-star hotels (the Princeville Hotel on Kauai, the Hotel Bel Air and the Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Rey).

She further honed her palate and expertise for four years as a personal chef for Meryl Streep on both coasts, and has accumulated a decade’s worth of “continuing education” through trips around the world to study global cooking and foods.

She just returned from a month in Cambodia and Laos. Before that, destinations included Turkey, Bali, South America and Italy (of course!).

“I bring what I learn into my catering company, and it enables me to cater recipes from many different nationalities,” Diana said. “Because of my travels, my menu is internationally infused, and that’s exciting, because people are tending to develop more adventurous palates.”

As the busy owner of Creative Fare Catering, Diana does weddings, dinner parties and events with guest lists from 10 to 400, and has seen food evolve over the years.  

“It’s all a very exciting time right now,” she said. “Middle Eastern food in particular is big now. It’s not unusual that I would do a tagine with lamb and figs for weddings, and different rices. For home cooks, tagine cooking is easy and a modern remedy to the boring Crock-Pot or the scary word ‘casserole.’”

She continued, “I also tend to be strong in vegetarian and vegan right now—a good third of my brides are vegetarian. Some will allow one chicken or fish dish, but many want only vegetarian dishes served. You have to be very creative in getting people not to notice the absence of meat. But I do a millet soufflé wrapped in grilled eggplant, with a basil aioli, and it tastes so good! You put something like that on a buffet, and people are going to say, ‘What is that?’ And then they go crazy for it.”

All her travel, cooking, learning and experience have combined to yield a delicious result for home cooks, who can try the recipes she creates as the culinary director for the . She creates and posts recipes, using seasonal produce on the market’s website.  

“We want to eat things in season,” said Diana, noting that seasonal cooking is a culinary trend, but also a practical matter. Produce is more abundant and just simply tastes better when it is in season. So she has developed a number of recipes that take advantage of what’s being offered now in farmers’ stalls at the market.

Her impetus in the creation of this inventive slaw was threefold:

• She wanted a vegan salad.
• She also loves color, and this slaw gets bright red punches from the radishes, and dark green undertones from the Brussels sprouts.
• She also wanted a chopped salad, because nothing is more annoying than trying to balance a plate at a party while spearing big, leafy greens. A chopped slaw remedies this. It’s simply easier to maneuver a chopped salad on the plate and from fork to mouth! Genius.

Asian Cole Slaw with Radishes and Miso Dressing (source: Diana Temple, culinary director for the Malibu Farmers Market)

Shaved means very thinly sliced.

In a large mixing bowl, add:
4 cups shaved Napa cabbage
1 cup shaved fennel (core and top removed)
1/2 cup shaved Brussels sprouts (optional)
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated
1/4 cup sliced red onion
A few red radishes, thinly sliced
Garnish: 3 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts

For Miso dressing, put the following in a blender:
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons red miso paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Blend all dressing ingredients except and oils, salt and pepper, until smooth. Add oils in thin stream while blender is running, to emulsify. Taste and add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Toss with cabbage and vegetables to taste and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

Serves 6-8.

Another Diana Temple Slaw Recipe for Another New Twist

Slaw with Mango and Blue Cheese Dressing

Dorothy Reinhold has written about food and developed recipes for 25 years. Her food blog is at www.shockinglydelicious.com, where you can find more scary-good, addictive recipes for home cooks.