July 12:
Recipe for Crunchy Cabbage Slaw with Orange Ginger Vinaigrette
Kids like this slaw because it’s crunchy and the dressing is naturally sweet. You can use any combination of fresh crunchy veggies, with some sort of cabbage as the base. As with many dishes I make, this can be kept for up to 2 weeks in the frig. Bring this to your next potluck!
[note it's low-cal and gluten- and dairy-free]
VINAIGRETTE
A mini-food processor or blender is a godsend for quick salad dressings, but I make plenty the old-fashioned way - shaken up in a jar. If you do have a blender, you don’t have to mince anything. Put the following in a large jar:pinky finger sized piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 cp red or green onion or shallot, minced
1 cp olive oil
1 cp orange juice
1 tsp salt
Optional: fresh cilantro, tarragon or parsley; 1 TB of sesame oil; twice as much ginger if you like ginger!Pulse for 1 min, or shake jar vigorously, preferably to your favorite dance tune. Season with salt or sugar to taste.
SLAW
Core and/or remove stems from veggies. Rinse thoroughly. Shred, julienne or chop in thin sticks or long pieces. I don’t have a fancy food processor so I use a mandolin to shred carrots and kohlrabi and chop everything else by hand.
- 1/2 a small green or red cabbage
- 4 leaves of curly kale
- 1/2 a small napa cabbage incl white stalk
- 1-2 kohlrabi with peel cut off
- a big handful of red spinach
- one medium red onion or a bunch of green scallions, chopped
- 6 carrots, smallish size found now at market or 2-3 big.
Put all in a large wide bowl. Pour 1 cp of vinaigrette over and toss all together until the colors are nicely mixed and everything is well-coated in dressing. Add more dressing if necessary. Add more colorful veggies if mixture looks mostly white.
Please note, red radishes and daikon (big Asian radish that looks like a white carrot) are excellent in slaws, too.
High in protein and very low in fat, silken/soft tofu is a wonderful way to make anything creamy, especially those salad dressings and dips we all like. Here’s how to make the Kid-Approved creamy fresh herb dressing that we made and served last Sunday at the market:
Kids can make this entirely. Everything but herbs goes in blender/processor. VRroomm 1 min to get the bits minced. Drop in 2 kid-fistfuls of herbs, and blend until it’s creamy and all one lovely green color. Finger test — what does it taste like? Describe the flavors to each other, and, if you wish, decide to add a bit more salt, sugar or lemon juice. Taste again, repeat as necessary, to get your customized dressing.
Use as dip or salad dressing with fresh raw vegetables. Substitute for mayonnaise in sandwiches, pasta or potato salads. Keeps in refrigerator for 2 wks.
Kid assignment: experiment to see which 2 herbs you like best, and which 3 raw veggies you like to dunk in it.
Note: Dairy-free. If you use wheat-free tamari, it’s gluten-free as well. Healthful fats from olive oil and tahini (sesame seeds). More nutritional info coming soon.
