Spring Slaw

Ali Segersten May 02, 2009 13 comments

What a gorgeous day here in Bellingham! I think it hit 75 degrees, at least on our thermometer. It was a wonderful way to celebrate May Day. Our 4-year old daughter, Gracie, danced around the May Pole at her preschool celebration and made flower garlands. I made 5 dozen Almond Thumbprint Cookies for the celebration, nearly half of which Tom burned because I left him in charge, its all good though, there was still plenty to go around.

Today I wanted to share an easy veggie recipe with you that can last the whole week. It is a recipe that I made in our cooking class last Tuesday night entitled "Eat Your Veggies."

Springtime is a time of detoxification, renewal, and cleansing. Cabbage is one of the best foods for this. It contains sulfur compounds that the liver needs to detoxify harmful substances. These sulfur compounds signal genes to produce more enzymes involved in detoxification and encourage the formation of proteins that assist in the manufacturing and preservation of glutathione, the primary antioxidant found in the human body.
Many of you probably have chives growing somewhere in your yard or garden. Note, if you don't, they are one of the easiest plants to grow. I have a small herb garden right out my front door, a perfect place to quickly gather herbs for cooking. The large amount of chives in this recipe adds a certain pungency to the already potent cabbage. The flavor is rather energizing; perfect for this quick, light energy of spring. And perfect for spring picnics in the park with family and friends.
Here is my trick to making this salad last the whole week. Don't follow the recipe!
OK, I will elaborate. Make a triple batch of the dressing and store it in a tightly sealed glass jar in the fridge. Use a large head of purple and green cabbage and as many carrots and chives as you see fit. Chop almonds and store them in a separate jar. Follow the directions below for processing the cabbage and carrots. Store the salad, undressed, in two large bowls or sealed containers in the fridge. When ready to serve, remove what you will use for that meal and drizzle some dressing over it. Sprinkle with chopped almonds. Serve. Note: the salad is best after about 20 minutes of being dressed.
For more veggie and salad recipes you can view the Salad Category or Vegetable Dishes Category.
Enjoy!

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About the Author

Ali Segersten

Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University and a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States. She is a Functional Nutritionist, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book.

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I know this is an old post but I just made this slaw and I had to say: it was WONDERFUL! So simple, yet so tasty. Thanks again for another great recipe!

Ali,
Thanks so much for this recipe! I didn't have chives, but it still turned out great. I ended up doing as you suggested - cutting the red and green cabbage and storing it in a container in the fridge (ready to make into slaw). When I made it up with the dressing and the almonds, I added napa cabbage as well. My 7yo wasn't too thrilled with it, so I added a small amount of mayonnaise (approx. 1-tsp) to her 1 cup of dressed slaw. It was kind of funny, because she said it was "okay, but not great" after I added the mayonnaise - but she ate the entire bowl in about 10 minutes (and she's a slow eater)! She obviously liked it quite a bit!

I have to share one more thing - I ended up mixing this slaw recipe with some leftover cooked brown and wild rice and chicken breast - poured the dressing over it and YUM! It was so good!

Thanks so much for all of your great recipes! They are truly inspiring!

Thanks Shirley - Thhis is definitely the GFE approach, I am sure you will love it! Thanks for your comment.

This is gorgeous. I want some now! I have to tell you I am going to cheat though. LOL I'll start off with the three-color bag of cole slaw mix, add the almonds (love them!), and try your dressing.

Thanks so much!
Shirley

Abbe - Poppy seeds would be a great addition to my recipe, thanks for the idea! Your recipe sounds great too.

Penny - You know I think Napa cabbage would work, just chop it by hand though. I think you may be right about the salad getting mushy if you left it sit for a while in the dressing, say if you were going to a picnic, but for dinner at home it should be fine, good luck!

Jennifer L. - Both Tom and I will just eat bowls of sauerkraut right out of the fridge. Though I prefer to have it with a meal, especially in the winter to help digest the denser, heavier foods. Tom will mix it with rice or quinoa and some beans for a meal (he makes this often). Also, I meant to say this in the post, I gave some of this cabbage salad to my boys, now 16.5 months old and they loved it! I bet Dahlia would like it too. :)

Barbara - So glad to hear you enjoy the book and blog, thanks for the feedback! No the thumbprint cookie recipe is not in our book, I created it last Sept. I think. It will be in the next cookbook. I had not planned on sharing it but I may in the future because there seems to be an interest.

yogamama - I am glad you got this before you went shopping, good luck with all of your cooking tomorrow and thanks for your comment.

Marci - Glad to hear you are interested in the cookies. You'll see above that I just answered this question. Thanks for your comment.

Esther - Thanks for your comment, I like easy recipes too, especially these days!

Diane - Glad I could help you do something with the cabbage in your fridge. This salad is addicting, I am sure you will love it!

Thanks, -Ali :)

Thanks for the info on cabbage. I'm going to make this tomorrow. I have cabbage in the refrigerator and I don't know why I've been waiting to use it. Thanks for keeping me healthy!

Thank you for this spring slaw recipe. I love recipes that are easy to put together and that don't have tons of ingredients. I will be making this soon!

I third the cookie recipe request! I love thumbprint cookies and would like a vegan and gluten, sugar free recipe if you make one. Thanks!
Marci

Hurray for cabbage and chives! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I will put these ingredients on my shopping list for today and make it tomorrow. I especially like how you have shared your ideas for making this last the whole week. I do a lot of cooking on Sundays to have meals already made for the week.

I too am interested in your mentioned cookie recipe if ever you want to share it!

Dear Ali,
Love your and Tom's book and your blog. Thank you for your extra effort of sharing your cooking experiences with all of us. They have helped me tremendously.

In your dialog, you mentioned Thumbprint cookies and I don't remember that recipe in your book. I would LOVE to have it because thumbprint cookies are my favorite. Thanks!

-Barbara

Yay! More ideas for cabbage. I am looking forward to making this.

On a different cabbage note, I just made your raw sauerkraut this week and it's good and all, but what do you eat it with? As a kid it was served (a bit soggily) alongside kielbasa and hot dogs, but those dietary days have passed. Any particular type of food that it goes well with now or do you just eat it out of the fridge?

Ali, I have a quick question for you...my boys will only eat the napa cabbage (they love that one in your book with the cilantro dressing)...would napa cabbage work in place of the green and red in your recipe or would it get too mushy with the dressing? Thanks for getting back to me, I know you are busy!

Thanks for this! I have a recipe sort of like this one that calls for rice vinegar/lemon juice in the dressing and poppy seeds in the salad. No chives though. I LOVE cabbage slaws and this one looks like an easy recipe, so thanks.

-Abbe