Friday, May 21, 2010

Cabbage and Lime Slaw with Roasted Peanuts



Don't you love it when you find another blogger, chef, or cook who loves a dish as much as you? When I stumbled across smitten kitchen a few years ago, I was so happy to find a few slaw recipes in her index. As she continued to blog throughout the years, it's been more and more slaw recipes. Almost every single one is immediately printed and put in my 'to make' file. Sounds perfect, right? 
Wrong.
My husband is not a fan of slaw. He'll eat it, if it's really  good, but for the most part, he'll pass. This can be a good thing, because I get to eat most of the slaw, but there's only so much raw cabbage the stomach can take, know what I mean? 
So when I found this one, I felt like we might have a winner. JJ loves Tex-Mex cuisine, I'd probably say it's his favorite. Because this slaw had lime and cumin, and my substitution of cilantro for the spinach, it was definitely a Tex-Mex dish. One additional change I made was to reduce the amount of peanut oil, and add a bit of sesame oil to add the nutty flavor without all of the fat. 
To complete this meal, I served the slaw with jalapeƱo chicken sausage and bell pepper quesadillas, and it was a definite winner! And the best part is the slaw is great the next day, unlike many others, and it wasn't watery or limp.  

Cabbage and Lime Slaw with Roasted Peanuts
via from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from the Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern

6 cups red cabbage, shredded (1 small head)
6 cups green cabbage, shredded (1 small head)
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. peanut oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 c. roasted peanuts, chopped
Black pepper

In a colander, toss the cabbage with 1 tbsp. kosher salt, let the cabbage drain for an hour.
In a large bowl, whisk together the lime juice, mustard, cumin, and oil until well mixed. 
Add the cabbage, cilantro and peanuts, toss and season with pepper, add more salt if necessary.
Serve immediately, store leftovers for a day or two in the fridge.
*Note - I added my cilantro after the photo was taken, I forgot to mix it in... but it's a great flavor addition, so don't skip it! If you're not a cilantro fan, just add a bit less


Thank you so much for your comments on my 'housekeeping' post! 
-I have gotten some great suggestions for my picks, and will hopefully get the index completed by next weekend
-I am over the moon about my expected niece or nephew, and am happy to ship my chocoholic sister goodies throughout her pregnancy, so any recommendations for anything that's super-chocolatey and ships well is appreciated! 
-The garden is moving along well, I update that blog every Sunday, if you want to check in. If you can tell, there were originally 40 heads of cabbage in my planter (oops) and my dad thinned it to 15-ish, so there will be plenty of slaws to be made this summer! 

4 comments:

Sneaker Teacher said...

I made your quinoa cakes from the other day. I over salted by accident and I didn't have vegetable broth so I substituted chicken broth which added to the oversaltyness, but I loved them anyway because I know I can try again with less salt. My husband ate them too and he really liked the corn relish! He was very pleased with the spiciness! Thanks for the recipes.

Also, I discovered yesterday at the gas station that Germany has M&M's in the colors of the German flag. I am SOOO making Monster cookies for World Cup! Only problem is so far, I only saw individual bags and I wouldn't want to buy a ton of small bags. I will have to check out the grocery stores and hope for a larger quantity.

Joanne said...

Yeah SK definitely loves her slaws! I love slaws that don't involve mayo...therefore this one looks fabulous.

Peabody said...

What a great side! I love the roasted peanuts in it.

B. Wilson @ Windy {City} Wilsons said...

I made this recipe for a couple BBQ's this weekend. I dislike mayo, but love vinaigrettes of all kinds. I'm more of a salt/spice girl than a creamy girl.

Anyhow, I made a couple changes. I didn't add cumin because I was out. I used the 1/4 cup of lime juice and threw in a little lemon juice, too. I also added a couple tablespoons of rice wine vinegar (I love the pairing with the sesame oil) and used ground red pepper flakes for a kick.

Thanks for the great idea!