fusion salad with sesame ginger dressing (gf, df, v)
Fusion Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing – Tangy and sweet. Fresh and crunchy. Yum!
I would like to say that I am not a coleslaw person. And that’s why I’m calling this a salad instead of a coleslaw.
I looooooove this salad. If you like Asian foods and/or are trying to eat healthier, I’d like to recommend this to you. You’ll love it.
I’ve had my eye on making an Asian shredded salad since I saw this one on The Kitchn weeks ago. My mind keeps floating back to it, and usually, this is a sign that something should be done about the craving. Stat.
I knew I wanted more color, a few more vegetables, and a sesame-ginger dressing, so I decided to come up with my own version. I’ll admit, I was a little nervous about doing this for some reason. I’m not really much for red cabbage usually–I guess it’s the little dried out, rock-hard shreds that come in salad mixes, but I just usually stay away. I decided to be brave and give it a go anyway, and I’m so glad I did! Paired with the sesame-ginger dressing, it stayed crisp without being hard, and even adopted a slight sweetness. It was delicious.
This salad is chock-full of veggies and good-for-you ingredients: green and red cabbage, carrots, green onions, cilantro, and ginger all lend great flavors, and topped with a few peanuts, it had a great crunch and a fabulous texture.
We ate this salad for dinner as a main course, but it would certainly work well as a side or as a big group salad for a potluck or get-together. If you’d like, you could even add in grilled chicken to make it heartier. Not sure what to do with the leftover cabbage? We used the rest of the Napa cabbage in potstickers, and I’m going to be trying a German recipe for the rest of the red. I’ll keep you posted if it goes well 🙂
A few notes on the recipe: the dressing will keep in the refrigerator about a week and can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. The ginger flavor will become more pronounced as it sits together, and it will be delicious. Also, if you have a food processor with a shredder, this is a great time to break it out! You’ll have all the cabbage shredded in less than 2 minutes. If not, no worries, the prep work will just take a bit longer.
Fusion Salad with Sesame-Ginger Dressing
- Yield: Serves 4 as a main dish or 8+ as a side. 1x
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1/2 small head green or Napa cabbage, shredded
- 1/2 small head red cabbage, shredded
- 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1/3–1/2c cilantro, minced (to your taste)
- honey-roasted peanuts (can use dry-roasted peanuts) to taste
For sesame-ginger dressing:
- 4 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil (it’s not too strong in this. Promise.)
- 5 tsp soy sauce or gluten free tamari (I like San-J brand)
- 4 tsp sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
- 2 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp Thai sweet chile sauce (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss green and red cabbage, carrots, green onion, and cilantro. Set aside.
- In a jar or lidded airtight container, combine dressing ingredients and shake to combine well.
- Up to an hour before serving, toss just enough dressing with the salad mixture to coat. You’ll likely have leftover dressing. Sprinkle with peanuts just before serving.
This looks like a great Asian salad. I can’t wait to try it.
looks delicious. i’ll put it on my grocery list!
Oooh, going gourmet I see! Such a fancy shmancy salad, but it is so incredibly easy to prepare! I’ll have to give this a shot next time I serve an Asian dish. Thanks for the inspiration! I hope all is well with you.
I love Asian slaw…I hate mayo so maybe it’s best to say “this is the only slaw I like!”. Totally great idea for a potluck.
Btw, I made potstickers a few weeks ago, using your recipe. Froze a few and they reheated so well. Totally going to do it again.
Can’t wait to try this…it will be a few days (or more) since the newest addition to our family arrived this week – but this looks yummy and healthy. I am looking for a good potsticker recipe (the one I have tried was very bland) – is yours in the archives?
Cynthia- CONGRATULATIONS on the new addition! I’m so excited for you. Our potsticker recipe is anything but bland. It’s in the archives, and you can also find it here.
Dear Emily;
This salad was glorious! We TOTALLY have a new and favorite salad at our house!
What beautiful color and texture, Emily! This is how I like coleslaw, I mean cabbage salad! 😉
I love any kind of cabbage salad, and I know I’d love yours! It looks beautiful, and the dressing sounds fantastic! 🙂
I made this beautiful salad last night and served it to the missionaries for dinner along with turkey and all the trimmings. They loved it. The salad bowl was almost empty.
I’m so glad! We’re having missionaries over for dinner in a week or so and I’ve been trying to think of something good that I haven’t fixed for them yet. Maybe I’ll make it again!
I made this dish last night and it is sooooooo good!!!! Thanks for the yummy recipes!
just found this while searching for a cabbage/ginger salad recipe to serve with Asian food. It looks fabulous and I’m going to try it asap. Can you give me a hint about what “Asian chile sauce” is (brand, etc.), or where I might find something similar? Thanks!
Thanks! Finally a red cabbage recipe without apple! 😉 Tastes really good – at least because I love asian food.
Regards from Germany.
★★★★★
I thought I should say THANK YOU, since I’ve been making this once a month for the past two years. It is well loved by everyone and can go with Asian foods, BBQ, fish tacos, etc. Great recipe and healthy, delicious side
★★★★★
Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for sharing this with me!