I’m a big salad eater. Big. I will make a bowl large enough for a family and eat the whole thing. I like the crunch, the acid, the salt. It’s candy to me, without the carbs and blood sugar spike.
This brightly shredded red cabbage salad is a big bowl of happiness to me. It has crunch from the cabbage, salt from the roasted pumpkin seeds and has brightness from the mustard shallot vinaigrette
Eat the Color Purple for Super Health
The dark purple pigment in red cabbage and other purple vegetables, known as anthocyanin, is a type of phytonutrient that belongs to the flavonoid family. Flavonoids are associated with lowering cholesterol, fighting heart disease and protecting the body against oxidative stress, which will help you age more gracefully, fight cancer and protect our brains. So eat the color purple as much as you can.
Vegetables are my Dream Food and the Red Cabbage Salad Recipe is my binge food.
As spinach tiger, I’m always eating lots of vegetables. They are my dream food, but over the last few months, I was also eating too many carbs, especially for my particular body type. My body is efficient. It stores fat for later, which would have kept me alive longer than most back 1000 years ago, when food was often scarce.
In 2017, the food supply in my kitchen never runs out and this efficient body, which stores fat for later, must be tricked. This is why I practice modified fasting and a lower carb diet. This kind of salad fits this life style well, as it’s low in net carbs, high in fiber and just so tasty and satisfying. Instead of grabbing chips, I grab a full forkfuls of this, which lasts in the fridge a few days.
A Mustard Shallot Vinaigrette Lends Punch to the Red Cabbage
The great thing about this red cabbage salad recipe is that you can still eat it days later. In fact, it’s better marinating overnight. Shallots gives just the right punch to the vinaigrette which soaks into the cabbage, softening it a little and creating a great flavor.
No Grains, No Pain for me.
Recently, I cut all grains out of my diet (not really planning to, but I did) and I noticed that a limp from a pain in my hip (that I had for over a year) had disappeared. I would work out with a vengeance, and limp out. I would leave a movie theater and limp out.
I don’t know if the problem with the limp was caused by the gluten or all grains or that I cut out most sugar. Eventually, I’ll test this out, but for now I’m really happy to feel normal again. I’m a huge believer in reducing inflammation and it has underscored my belief in the healing and harming power of food.
When you choose not to eat grains, you don’t have to give up textures. I’d rather eat color and have big crunch with full flavor any day.
Red Cabbage Salad Recipe is Perfect for a Potluck
This is a great salad for fatty meats like pork or chicken thighs. It also is perfect for tucking into tacos. This is another one of those pot luck recipes because you can make it the night before and it will stay intact for the whole party.
You could also add in some chopped chicken for a complete salad meal! I did that one night when I got home really late and enjoyed left overs from a roast chicken.
The Oxo Spiralizer is helpful with the red cabbage salad recipe, but not necessary. You can always use a good chef’s knife to shred it.If you don’t have a spiralizer, I highly recommend getting one. I like the OXO as it is very inexpensive, works well and is easy to clean. (This is not sponsored; I just like it).
So tell me how’s your January eating going? Do you start a plan or maybe you’re so good during the holidays you don’t need to worry.
If you like raw cabbage recipes, you’ll also love this triple crunch cabbage salad with feta cheese and marcona almonds.
You can also play around with this by adding ginger, a squeeze of orange and using sesame oil.
More Cabbage Recipes
More Salad Recipes
More Salad Dressing Recipes
- 1 small head red cabbage
- 1 large carrot
- ¼ cup salted roasted pumpkin seeds (may need up to ½ cup)
- !Shallot Vinaigrette
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots
- ¼ cup prosecco white wine vinegar (can use red wine or white wine or champagne vinegar)
- juice of ½ lemon
- ½ to ¾ cups extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt
- pepper
- Trim red cabbage and shred with either food processor, knife or spiralizer.
- Peel and trim carrot. Julienne or shred. Add to cabbage. You can use more carrot if you like. I just used a small amount for color.
- Toss cabbage with vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper. Toss again. Taste to make sure the cabbage is acidic enough. As it marinates, it will lose some of the acid.
- Add pumpkin seeds, reserving some for topping right before serving.
- Mix mustard, shallots, lemon juice and vinegar.
- Add oil. Shake in jar or use whisk to incorporate.
- Add dressing. You may not use all of the dressing, depending on size of head of cabbage used.
Leisa Hammett says
January 16, 2017 at 11:58 amReminds me of a dish at my fave Thai fusion place, Jasmine, in Cool Springs, (Nashville). Angela, of course, as you know, sugar does cause inflammation. I, too, have had success with aches and pains in joins upon reducing. But also, definitely, also with gluten. When I eat gluten my finger joints ache. I suffered with that for 10 years and was taking a tumeric, etc., supplement a wholistic doc recommended. Knowng her she’d now advise at gf diet but this was 2004. It was not until I gave up gluten that I realize I could also toss the supplement. THank you for this healthy, delicious recipe. When I learned how sugar was key to my health problems suffered from age 16 to 27, and I therefore went without for the next 10 years, I learned how sweet and delicious vegetables are. Esp. red cabbage. YUM!
Angela Roberts says
January 16, 2017 at 6:01 pmYeah I don’t eat much sugar. I’m more of a salty type. The only sugar I’ve been eating is a piece of dark chocolate at night. I just finished re-reading Grain Brain by Dr. Perlmutter and grains can cause brain inflammation and lead to dementia. At any rate, I feel so much better not eating grains. I’m hardly hungry.