I love how beautiful the cross section of a sliced cabbage looks, and I nearly always prepare it raw, in salads.
With its briny, salty tang my cabbage salad is a great accompaniment to fried chicken sandwiches, tacos and nachos, and a bright side dish for a classic backyard bbq menu of burgers and sausages on the grill. My go-to cabbage salad uses both white and red cabbages, crisp carrot, chopped fresh herbs, and green onion; I dress it with a vinegar-heavy hand .
Imagine my crunchy bright salad being added to a crispy fried chicken sandwich: the bottom bun has a whisper of mayo spread over it, then the crispy fried chicken is placed on it; next a pile of fresh, crunchy, vinegary cabbage salad is spooned over the chicken, piled high so that it falls over the sides, off the bun, and onto the plate. Lastly, place the top bun (already drizzled with chili-garlic sauce, and waiting to the side) on the heaped cabbage salad.
Yum!
You can make delicious fried chicken yourself, by shallow frying breaded thighs in a heavy pan, or buy it from a local restaurant and make your own sandwich at home.
When I make dinner nachos, or a spread of tacos for my family, I like the same crisp salad as a topping. Again, both white and red cabbages, carrot, and green onion, but I increase the amount of fresh cilantro, and I might add some thinly sliced bell pepper. I usually squeeze the juice of a lime into this version.
But using fresh cabbage is tricky. A dense head of crisp leaves doesn’t seem so daunting at the store or market, but wait until you get it home: you’ve sliced up what you need for the recipe and find there’s still three quarters of a head untouched!
The good news is that cabbage stays fresh in the refrigerator for a long time. Cabbage will keep for weeks, if you only cut what you need; if it’s already shredded, don’t count on it being fresh next week. Keep your leftover head of cabbage in a plastic bag and simply slice off the dry side the next time you reach for it.
And you will reach for it, because my crispy fresh cabbage salad will soon be in your rotation, as it is in mine.
Cabbage Salad INGREDIENTS
- ⅓ head of white cabbage*
- ¼ head of red cabbage*
- ½ cup grated carrot
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 3 sprigs each fresh parsley and cilantro, chopped
Dressing INGREDIENTS
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 ½ tbsp White wine vinegar
- ½ tsp Sea salt
- ¼ tsp Black pepper
- ¼ tsp White sugar, optional
Cabbage Salad METHOD
- Lay the white cabbage cut side down on the cutting board and slice as thinly as possible; repeat with the red cabbage
- Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl
- Add the dressing ingredients to the salad and mix well to combine
- Refrigerate at least one hour; mix well before serving
*cabbage sizes can vary quite a bit: cut a 2” wedge of white cabbage / 1½” wedge of red cabbage, or 3 cups white / 2 cups red, once sliced
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