Red Cabbage & Carrot Slaw

Tangy. Crunchy. Easy prep. No fancy ingredients. Loaded with antioxidants. Comes together in a jiffy. Customizable. Delicious and satisfying. Here's the recipe in printable format.

Do you need anything else for dinner? Or to take to a cookout? I think not! With the recent produce recalls, I was hungry for a crunchy salad, but so afraid of getting sick. Cabbage, onions and carrots are still safe. This is the result, and each bite makes me crazy for more.

Yes, it's a vibrant side, especially for roasted or grilled meats, but...  how about adding a rinsed and drained can of black beans or chickpeas for a vegetarian meal packed with goodness and protein? Indeed, for me, anytime I can use a sweet potato as a base and pile high something tasty and crunchy onto that delicate sweetness, I am happy. If I'm feeling naughty, I might top my little mountain of nutrition with pumpkin seeds. This would be a party in my mouth and in my gut! You can bake or roast the sweet potatos in wedges. I keep them cold to have ready for building such a meal.

How to customize? Easy. If you like onions, add more. If you don't, try sliced green onions. If you want more orange, go for more grated carrots. If you don't like mayonnaise, try plain Greek yogurt. If you're into the "load up on protein" fad, see if whipped cottage cheese might make a good mayo substitute. If you don't have citrus champagne vinegar, whisk together champagne or white wine vinegar with half a teaspoon of table sugar and a bit of orange zest. Play with it. See what works for you. Here's the recipe.

A short story of friendship and differing tastes. A dear friend gave me a gorgeous boxed set of vinegar for Christmas. Very thoughtful for someone who loves to cook, right. Yes. Absolutely! Until I read the ingredients--sugar in my vinegar? If you don't already know, I believe in keeping things simple so that you taste the freshest vegetables or prime steak or whatever your main ingredient is in cooking. I grimace when I see flavored olive oils and vinegars, especially the vinegars. With all of that added sugar, it might as well be syrup! The champagne vinegar used in today's recipeis one of the vinegars with sugar in it, BUT it's not syrupy sweet. Just the lightest hint of cane sugar, and it fits so well with the other ingredients, that the first time I tasted this salad, I had it with dinner and then I had it after dinner as well! If you'd like to learn more about the Brightland oil and vinegar company, you can follow this link and purchase your own Parasol Champagne Vinegar If you don't want to add your credit card information to yet another online purchase, it's also available on amazon. You may want to opt for another good brand for a lower price. It's the O brand. They use lemon instead of the orange that Brightland folks use, and they don't add sugar.

Use this side of the box grater.

The handheld mandoline shaves cabbage in no time!

The veggies prior to adding vinegar and mayonnaise.