Colorful Slaw

Whenever I think of coleslaw, the images of lots of mayonnaise pop into my head.  I recently bought Jamie Oliver’s book, Jamie’s America, and was flipping through the recipes.  This slaw caught my eye- especially since it did not use any mayonnaise.

With the weather warming up, we’ve been eating our dinner upstairs on the rooftop.  This salad was perfect for a fast and easy dinner.  We accompanied this dish with some cheese (from Cowgirl Creamery)  and fresh bread, making it a perfect low-key dinner.

Jamie recommends this salad as a side with some chicken or pork chop.  He notes that you can change up the salad with different flavors.  Leave the onion, cilantro and white cabbage as a base, but feel free to add asparagus or fennel to further enhance the taste of this salad.

Colorful Slaw
Adapted from: Jamie’s America Cookbook

1/2 head of cabbage
1/2 head of red cabbage
20 radishes; trimmed & thinly sliced
4 carrots, peeled
1 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
2 jalapeños, chopped finely
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 3 limes
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

The quickest way to make this is to use a food processor.  The mandolin attachment shreds the cabbages and carrots into tiny pieces.  If you do not have one, a grater will do the job as well.

In a large bowl, combine the shredded cabbage (white not red) with the radishes, carrots,  cilantro, jalapeños and onions.  Mix everything well.  In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Once the ingredients are integrated, pour over the slaw.  Once again, toss together.

Finally, fold in the red cabbage right before serving.  If you add it at the beginning, the red cabbage can stain all the other ingredients.

Fish Taco’s

I love Mexican…a lot!  Especially chips and salsa- definitely my weakness.  So this might seem weird- I have never had fish taco’s until about a month ago.  When I did try them, I was already thinking how we could recreate some at home.

Flipping through the Mexican cookbook, I liked how the picture looked, and decided we should have some for dinner.  We’ve made taco’s once that had the red cabbage in it, and I fell in love with the crunchiness of the cabbage with the soft tortilla.  Sam made the fish, so he gets all of the credit- the tilapia was tender and flaky.  Mexican food is great since there aren’t any concrete rules.  You can add any ingredients which you like (extra cilantro for me!).

Lastly, Sam’s Special Sauce was wonderful- we’ve had some in our fridge for a couple of days now and have been using it whenever we could.  (Perfect on panini’s!)

Fish Taco’s with Sam’s Special Sauce
Inspired by: Mexican Cookbook: A Practical Guide to Preparing and Cooking Delicious Mexican Meals

1 lb tilapia
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne
1/4 head of red cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded
4 tortillas
1/4 cup cilantro
1 cup salsa (we make our own, but that’s another post)
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup Sam’s Special Sauce*

Mix together the salt, pepper, chili powder and cayenne in a small bowl.  Then use all of the spice mix to sprinkle both sides of the fish.  In a pan melt the butter, and then add the olive oil.  Cook the fish for 2 minutes on both sides over medium-high heat.

Assemble the taco: 1 tortilla, some fish, small handful of red cabbage, pinch of cilantro, 2 tbsp salsa, 2 tbsp cheese and 1-2 tbsp of Sam’s Special Sauce.*

 

* Sam’s Special Sauce

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 of an onion, chopped
1 canned chipotle

In a food processor, add 1 cup of mayo, onion, and 1 canned chipotle.  Blend, until smooth.  Taste, and add more chipotle’s if you want it to be more spicy.

Cabbage Thai Salad

As I have mentioned, I love salads.  Easy salads that take less than 30 minute to throw together and they can be a meal.  Growing up, my mom used to make a chinese cabbage salad, which included Ramen noodles as an extra crunch- and I loved it!  So when I saw this recipe from Mark Bittman’s The Food Matters Cookbook, I definitely wanted to try it to see this salad satisfied my love for the crunchy cabbage salad.  Simililar ingredients, but there are some fun additions.  I did change it just a bit, more of some stuff, less of others- but it is crunchy and refreshing.  My favorite was putting the sesame seeds on it!

Cabbage Thai Salad
Adapted from The Food Matters Cookbook

Juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 fresh hot red chile, minced
1 carrot, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 Chinese cabbage, chopped
2 handfuls of snow peas, chopped
5-7 radishes, chopped
1 handful of cashews
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup of sesame seeds
8 leaves of fresh basil, chopped
6 leaves of fresh mint, chopped

Mix all of these ingredients in a large bowl.  Toss, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Although, this can get a big soggy, so it’s better to eat it right away.