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Posts from the ‘Salads’ Category

Incredibly addictive crunchy peanut cole slaw

Just in time for 4th of July, I’m sprucing up this post and recipe a bit. I made this last night and it’s still one of my favorite-ever slaw recipes, simple and fast and perfect for summer dinners when it’s too hot to do much but chop and toss.

When I first wrote about this slaw, back in 2011, I talked about how hard it was for us to keep our  hands out of the bowl as we waited for the rest of our dinner to cook. It was the same last night – an hour or so before dinner we devoured the bowl I put together for photos and found ourselves picking at the serving dish both before and after dinner. Brett just now turned to me and said “we get to eat that slaw again for lunch today, right?”

Right.

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Here’s what I said about this slaw a few years ago: This slaw is like going on a tropical vacation and, freshly showered and dressed after a day of sweating on the beach, eating dinner in a fresh, clean, beachside cafe cooled by evening breezes. If you’ve been on a tropical vacation, you know what I’m talking about.  Relaxed and fresh, light and not overdone. With flavors that suggest somewhere warm and exotic.

I may not say that in the same words today, but it still holds. Last night was our first meal back from five days in the mountains and desert of Southeastern Oregon, and I wanted something fresh, crunchy, and light to round out the dense, calorie-packed backpacking meals we’d been eating. We served it with grilled chicken, which I should note made for a great gluten-free meal (using tamari instead of soy sauce in the dressing), planned because one of our best friends here in Eugene has celiac. She ended up at the last minute not being able to come, but we enjoyed our lack of gluten in her absence. (Well, except that we drank beers. So maybe not.)

I also ended up adding some chopped long beans to it before we served it, and that reminded me that there are a lot of options for adding other vegetables. I’ve listed some ideas in the recipe below. There’s also two chances to add some heat, which I don’t do nearly enough – you could add chili sauce to the dressing or chop some chilis right into the veggies.

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Crunchy peanut slaw
Adapted slightly from The Kitchn 

Makes approximately 6-8 substantial side servings

  • 1 head green cabbage
  • 1 bunch scallions
  • 1 cup cilantro leaves and stems (about two big handfuls)
  • Optional addition ideas: shredded carrots, chopped long beans/snow peas/snap peas, thawed frozen peas, thinly sliced radishes, finely chopped chili peppers
  • 1/2 cup canola, rapeseed, or other flavorless oil
  • 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
  • 2 tsp. soy sauce (plus more to taste, if needed)
  • 1 Tbsp. sugar
  • Squeeze of sriracha or other chili sauce, to taste (optional)
  • 1 1/2 cups roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted are fine, and almonds would work well too)

Prepare and combine the vegetables: Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage and discard. Shred the cabbage (I use basically the method in this video but with quarters instead of halves – I quarter the cabbage, cut out the core, then cut as thin of slices as I can using as sharp of a big knife as I can find). Slice and/or chop the scallions (white, light green, and dark green parts) and roughly chop the cilantro (leaves and stems all together). Prepare any other optional vegetables you’re going to add. Toss everything together in a big bowl.

– Make the dressing: Whisk together the liquid ingredients plus the sugar and optional chili sauce. Toss with the vegetables and adjust soy sauce and other ingredients as necessary.

– Add peanuts: Before serving, toss in the peanuts.

Making ahead: The dressed salad will stay well in the fridge for a day or two, though it will lose a bit of crunch. The peanuts will lose crunch and flavor, though, so add those right before eating if you can. (If you’re planning on leftovers from the get-go, set aside what you’re going to eat right away and add the peanuts to that.)

Pearl couscous Greek salad

(This recipe is part of a post on a shower I threw – you can see more about it here.)

I am a big fan of big couscous (you might know it as the much more sophisticated-sounding “Israeli coucous” or “pearl couscous”). I am also a big fan of Greek salad. One of the awesome things about tinkering around in the kitchen is: sometimes you can take two (or more) things you like and combine them to make something even better. Read more

Wild rice edamame salad

(This recipe is part of a post on a shower I threw – you can see more about it here.)

If there was any star recipe of the shower, this one was definitely it. This is one of the few I tested in the weeks before the party to see if it was something I might want to make, and it was a legitimate physical struggle not to eat the entire thing – all 6 servings of it – in the hours after I first made it. The hearty, hefty base of wild rice together with a strong sesame flavor, the crunchy brightness of the edamame, scallions, and carrots, and the chewy tartness and sweetness from the dried cranberries makes this a well-rounded, main dish-worthy salad perfect for spring (particularly spring in Minnesota). Read more

A few Sunday activities to pass along

Two important things to share with you after a food-filled weekend.

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Read more

Last minute cooking

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I’m going to be quick about this one, but it’s been sitting in my drafts folder for about a month now. One Friday night Brett and I had plans to make something for dinner – I can’t even remember what it was, so it couldn’t have been that exciting. But he was running late coming home from work, and I was restless, as I often am on Friday evenings, when I have trouble winding down from work.  We didn’t have much in the house, except a metric ton of zucchini and four red peppers nearing the end of their useful life. I appear not to be the only one with such a situation, since the two magazines I subscribe to (Bon Appetit and Sunset) had features in their August issues geared toward kitchens stocked with summer produce  – heavy on the volume, light on the variety.  Sifting through dozens of recipes focused on tomatoes, corn, peppers, and zucchini, I picked out a few quick, easy choices and had dinner ready by the time Brett walked in the door 25 minutes later. Read more