Cabbage Crunch/Slaw

If you are trying to eat healthy despite the holidays, this is the dish for you. Add some braised tofu or fried egg and you have a healthy vegetarian meal. Also, cabbage is in season at our local market (Catbriar Farm and Flat River Farm have a nice selection of them) and is very, very cheap for the amount of food it produces (one head of cabbage can probably feed a family of four-six very easily).

What makes this different from most slaws is the slow pickling/marinating process. I learned this from Andrea Reusing’s book, Cooking in the Moment, when making her recipe for hot slaw. She pickles cabbage in lemon and lime juices with a little salt, sugar, and jalapeno for about 30 minutes before cooking. I accidentally pickled them overnight and found that they had a lovely sauerkraut-y texture, and that’s been my favorite method for seasoning cabbage.

The rest of ingredients come from various recipes for cabbage crunch, which apparently involves ramen noodles and ramen seasoning. I didn’t have that on hand, so I provided crunch in form of chopped roasted peanuts (and if you read my last post, I had a lot of roasted peanuts on hand), and added whatever else I had in the fridge: cilantro, carrots, scallions.

Cabbage Crunch/Slaw

• 1 head cabbage, shredded
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp turbinado sugar
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or 1 chopped jalapeno)
• 3 carrots, julienned
• 3-4 scallions, chopped
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup-1 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
• Dressing:
  • 1 TB sesame oil
  • 3 TB apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
  • 2-3 TB agave nectar to taste
  • salt
  • freshly ground pepper

1. Mix shredded cabbage with lemon and lime juices, salt, sugar, hot pepper flakes/jalapeno and set aside for at least 6-8 hours or overnight.
2. Add carrots, scallions, cilantro, and peanuts to cabbage (do not drain cabbage) and mix well.
3. Mix the dressing (oil, vinegar, agave) and pour into cabbage mixture. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste.