Colors make my world go round. When creating a dish, the taste and visual appearance is what influences the creativity. The ability to imagine colorful combination on the plate comes from a graphic design background. One of my favorite color combination is green and purple, for they harmonize well together. When a salad uses vegetables with those colors, it’s visually stunning. This Red Cabbage and Snow Pea Salad is a type of cole slaw without mayonnaise or a creamy dressing. The surprise green vegetable is snow peas, instead of leafy green. The leafy vegetable instead is the red cabbage.
The red cabbage is one of Mother Nature’s finest masterpieces. When slicing into a head, the pattern and swirls of compressed reddish-purple and white leaves always draws me into its beauty. One head of cabbage lasts over several meals. The leaves are usually shredded and sealed into a plastic bag. They’re instant additions to green salads for a contrast of colors and textures, especially with bright green snow peas.
The other day a chef on television demonstrated another method of prepping raw snow peas by vertically slicing them. This cutting method intrigued my creativity with salad ideas. Immediately, I thought of a refreshing cole slaw type of raw salad made with slice snow peas, grated carrots, scallions for a bit of kick, and the shredded red cabbage currently in the refrigerator.
The result? It’s a dramatic vegetable salad of purples, oranges, and greens. The shredded salad was tossed with an Asian-Inspired Vinaigrette, and each dish was garnished with sesame seeds. The salad is a crispy compliment to roast or grilled meats, especially a whole Peanut Butter Roast Chicken (the recipe coming soon). The Red Cabbage and Snow Pea Salad is not only a colorful salad, but the taste is refreshing. It’s an unusual and appetizing side dish, and it pairs well with many summer dishes.
Red Cabbage and Snow Pea Salad
Click here to download a PDF of the Red Cabbage and Snow Pea Salad recipe.
Ingredients
10 oz. snow peas; cleaned with ends trimmed; vertically slice thin
3-cups of shredded red cabbage
1 cup of grated carrots
3 green onions; sliced thin
1/2-cup fresh mint
1/2-cup fresh cilantro
Sea salt and fresh black pepper
Asian-Inspired Vinaigrette (Recipe provided below)
Garnish: Sesame seeds
Directions
1. Gently toss all ingredients.
2. Garnish each serving with sesame seeds.
3. Enjoy
Asian-Inspired Vinaigrette
Ingredients
1 tbsp. fish or soy sauce
3 tbsp. peanut/neutral oil
3 tbsp. rice vinegar
1-inch grated fresh ginger
Crushed red pepper; to taste
1 tsp. sesame oil
The juice of one lime
Directions
1. Whisk all ingredients together.
2. Toss with Shredded Red Cabbage and Snow Pea Salad.
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Thanks. Really enjoyed this and you helped me loose two pounds. I have had this all week each time a little different for variety. Really liked it with a chopped orange and a little less peanut oil.
I like the color combination in your food. The food looks so elegenat, crunchy and fresh. It really call on you.
Lovely, simple salad Sanura. Reminds me that I can do more (or less) than steam or stirfry snow peas.
Oh wow, this looks so delicious, and I must agree that colorful food is so pleasing! I’m needing some great dishes to make this summer as I start into a predominately vegetarian diet, and I think this recipe will go to the printer and into my notebook of dishes to try!
Your photography is amazing. The food is so vibrant it jumps off the screen. Look forward to following your kitchen adventures here. Glad to have made your acquaintance.
Be well
Hey, Phil! Thanks for catching that mistake. It’s now corrected.
The Vinaigrette recipe calls for two times “one inch piece ginger grated”. I assume this is a typo??? Or does it really call for all that ginger????
great salad and the inspiration for it is wonderful. i agree with you that purple and green work well together. I love green and cognac! and your choice of green was great…. leafy is bountiful so something crunchy is nice.
This looks yummy. I may have to try it.