I've never been a huge fan of coleslaw because the stuff I've experienced in the cafeteria lunch room during grade school freaked me out. I remember the lunch ladies would force me to eat that crap before I was allowed to go to the playground to play with my friends--disgusting!
Anyway, I was at a barbeque birthday bash the other weekend and a friend of mine made this very light summer coleslaw using the fresh produce she got from the local farmer's market. I was a little apprehensive about trying it at first, but decided it would be rude of me not to. I was really surprised by the lightness of the dressing or vinaigrette--it was both sweet and tangy and very light because there was less mayo and more vinegar in the dressing.
This got me thinking about this version of Chinese cabbage salad my mom use to make in the summer time with carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, lemon juice, a little sugar, and some salt. I loved having it the next day after the flavors marinated together overnight.
I went grocery shopping with these two recipes in mind and saw this lovely head of red savoy cabbage at the market. I put on my thinking cap and decided that I had to use use this red cabbage to make my own version of cabbage salad~!
By the way, if you want the exact recipe--I don't remember it because I eyeball everything and hardly measure when I cook. I know this is a terrible habit of mine, but I can't help it. This also happens when I bake so if I ever provide a baking recipe and it turns out to be an utter disaster for you, I'm going to have to apologize in advance! I hardly ever follow recipes to a T...
These are the overall ingredients and you can add or subtract whatever you do and don't like:
Red Cabbage & Pear Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette Dressing
-Half a hed Red Savoy Cabbage
-1 1/2 Cups of Honey Toasted Walnuts (you can do this in the oven or stove top using raw walnuts)
-1 or 2 Carrots
-2 Celery Stalks
-1/4 White Onion (you can use red or yellow, whatever is in your kitchen)
-1 or 2 Pears (more like 1 1/2 because I think I ate the other half as I was chopping)
Pomegranate Vinaigrette
-about 1/2 cup pomegranate juice (reduced down on a low flame with a spoonful or two of sugar)
-about 2 tbl extra virgin olive oil
-about 2 tbl red wine vinegar
-1 or 2 tsp dijon mustard
-salt & pepper to taste
The results--YUMMY!
Conde Nast also sent out a recent press release stating that there will be 3 special edition to be published containing cookbook glossy photos, recipes, wine pairings and much more. The first edition to be published on September 7th!
