Thank you for the best wishes for my dad – he is starting to do a little better, but the road to recovery is unfortunately going to be long and we still don’t know if a full recovery is possible. Stress is far away.
Since I was asked to stay at the hospital (long story) outside of single visiting hours, I took charge of the food for the three of us (my mom, my brother, and me) because I’m something (sort of) that deserves to be done. Help and good nutrition are especially important (and easy to fall by the wayside in times of extreme stress).
I came up with this simple salad one evening based on what I had in the fridge and it went down so well with everyone (including my dad, who’s sick of the horrible food in the hospital) so I thought I’d share, especially since it’s the start of barbecue season. And everyone needs a simple coleslaw. I used finely shredded baby cabbage and minced sun-dried tomatoes to add umami, which I tossed in a simple balsamic vinaigrette and topped with toasted walnuts for a satisfying crunch.
More about ingredients
Cabbage: I used young white cabbage for this salad, in the UK it is cone shaped and called sweetheart cabbage, on the Continent it is round. Either works fine, in fact any cabbage will, but since young cabbage is currently in season that’s what I used. I like it chopped really finely, but the thickness is really up to you.
Sun-Dried Tomatoes: I really love the little pops of flavor that finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I used those preserved in oil) bring to this salad. I love the intensity of flavor of sun-dried tomatoes, which as you can see in my photos are darker and more crunchy – slow roasted tomatoes – though both work well.
Garlic: I grated a small clove of garlic into the dressing. If you are not a fan of garlic, you can use a small amount (a quarter teaspoon or so) of garlic powder instead of skipping it.
Oil: I used extra virgin olive oil to make the dressing, but if you can use oil as well, save the tomatoes because they are full of flavor. I tend to use it for cooking instead.
Flavored Vinegar: Use quality balsamic vinegar if possible to make this dressing, it has a deep and sweet flavor. If you can only get hold of cheap vinegar, you may want to add a little sugar (maple syrup or real sugar) to the dressing to offset its acidity. Start with 1 teaspoon of sweetener, taste and add more as needed.
Walnuts (or sunflower seeds): Every good salad needs a variety of textures with plenty of satisfying crunch. That’s why I added pan-toasted and roughly chopped walnuts to this salad. When I first made this, I was out of walnuts and used toasted sunflower seeds, and they work just as well if you want to keep this salad nut-free.
- 45 ml / 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 30 ml / 2 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
- 1 clove of garlic, finely grated
- Salt and pepper, to taste
salad
- 50 g / generous ½ cup walnuts*
- 400 g / 14 oz (1 small head) white cabbage*
- 60 g / 2 oz (8 small) sun-dried tomatoes in oil*
method
dressing
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar and season generously. Place the lid on and shake well to emulsify. If you want your dressing a little sharper, taste and add more spices and a little more balsamic. If your balsamic isn’t soft, you may need to add a small amount of sugar to balance it out.
salad
- Toast the walnuts in a dry pan until fragrant and charred in places. Keep an eye on them and toss regularly. When done, remove from pan and let cool before slicing.
- Finely shred the cabbage using a veggie mandolin or a very sharp knife.
- Drain the tomatoes into a fine dice.
- Toss diced tomatoes in balsamic dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning to taste. Serve with chopped walnuts on top.
Comment
* Cabbage: I used young white cabbage but any cabbage will work well.
*Sun-dried tomatoes: I prefer sun-dried tomatoes here (as opposed to slow roast as you can see in my photo). They are darker in color and more crunchy and are available in a jar, in all well-stocked supermarkets (usually next to capers and olives).