It is kind of a slaw, kind of a cabbage salad, it’s full of color, and it feeds a crowd!

It is summer cookout time, and we gather together, bringing food and conversation to the table. If I’m asked to bring a salad, I like to stray from the old standby recipes of potato salad, pasta salad, and coleslaw. There is nothing wrong with these, but adding a few different ingredients keeps things interesting, and if I can find vibrant colors, all the better.

Start with what catches your eye!

This week, I found a lovely savoy cabbage at the farm stand and I knew I would be making something around this beauty. The outer leaves are outrageous showoffs!

I love the addition of orange in this salad. It is unexpected, but not overpowering, just a nice little undertone. The horseradish and maple syrup also blend nicely in this dish, and the dried cranberries give a tart and sweet bite here and there.

Chop and assemble. No cooking!

After the slicing and chopping, this goes together really fast! I use my biggest bowl so I have plenty of room to mix everything up. My favorite way to serve it is to save a few of those beautiful crinkled outside leaves of the savoy cabbage to line the bowl. So pretty!

This dressing is lighter than a regular coleslaw dressing, both in fat and the amount of it used. Our family does not like a heavy mayonnaise dressing that coats the salad like a blanket, so I’ve used less and replaced some of the mayonnaise with a more tangy yoghurt. If you want this even lower in fat, use all yoghurt in the sauce.

Even when I have a recipe I love like this, I seldom make it the same way twice. Swap out whatever cabbages you like, experiment with different sauce ingredients, and mix up the dried fruits for variety. Change the vinegar, swap out the cabbage with parsnips or turnip. Add some fresh herbs from the garden. No oranges? Use limes or lemons. You can also add a third cup of any favorite nut or seed.  Think color and texture, and use what your guests will like. Make it pretty, and they will at least try it.

This serves 10 (1/2 cup servings) but the recipe is easily doubled if you have a large bowl!

Three Cabbage Carnival Salad

2 cups shredded savoy cabbage

2 cups shredded Napa cabbage

6 or 7 large, dark green savoy cabbage leaves, whole

1 cup shredded purple cabbage

1 cup shredded carrots

1 small purple or other sweet onion, diced

3 scallions, diced

1/3 cup dried cranberries or raisins

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup non-fat Greek yoghurt

1 tbsp. prepared horseradish

1 tbsp. maple syrup or honey

1 tbsp. sherry vinegar

1 tbsp. orange juice

Zest of one orange

1/2 tsp. sweet Hungarian paprika

Salt and pepper

Fresh edible flowers, and poppy or nigella seeds to garnish

Makes 10, 1/2 cup servings

Prep the vegetables: shred the cabbages and carrots either in a food processor or with a chef’s knife. I usually just use the knife because in the time it takes to swap out my steel blade for the shredding attachment, I can probably have the cabbage all sliced up.

Place the vegetables  in a large bowl. I use one that was probably designed as a wash basin! Add a little salt and pepper.

Add the onion,  scallions, and cranberries to the bowl.

In a small bowl,  mix together the mayonnaise, yoghurt, horseradish, honey, vinegar, orange juice, zest, and paprika. Blend with a whisk and add a bit of salt and pepper. Taste and correct.

Pour over the cabbage  and mix well. Taste again, and correct if necessary.

Line your salad bowl  or platter with the savoy cabbage leaves. Place the salad on top, and sprinkle with a few edible flower blossoms, some black pepper, and poppy or nigella flower seeds. You can also use nuts here, or some additional scallions.

Nutritional information: A nutritional powerhouse, raw cabbage is a member of the brassica family and is filled with antioxidants, phytonutrients, and other cancer-fighting nutrients. Each 1/2 cup serving of this slaw has 90 calories, 4 grams of fat, 12 g carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber, a gram of protein, a day’s worth of Vitamin A, and a good source of potassium, Vitamins K, B6, and C, folate, calcium, and iron. (information gathered from My Fitness Pal calculator).

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