Autumn Slaw
Today, I am sitting in Napa, California having finished my fourth day of my Farm to Table Culinary Boot Camp! I am attending the Culinary Institute of America for a five day course. Super stoked to improve my kitchen skills. Tomorrow we create our own recipes with a bit of a market basket. This Autumn Slaw recipe is a great way to use garden fresh veggies in a quick and easy salad.
My husband and I have spent some time exploring the Napa area and having, maybe, the odd glass of wine….. I have spent this time at the Culinary Institute learning all kinds of cool stuff and my hubby has spent the time working and doing a little bit of kiteboarding.
Because I want to stay in touch this week while I am learning, I thought I would post this Autumn Slaw salad recipe that I made last weekend that we had three nights in a row because we liked it so much. The really cool thing is that the salad ingredients all came straight from my garden. Love this time of year. It is a super crunchy salad which I really enjoy.
Best of all, this is an easy salad, because — remember my mantra — the best salad is the one someone else makes!
I start with some baby kale and chop it up. With baby kale, you don’t have to remove the spine or the kale leaf like you do with mature kale. I think baby kale is a little less bitter than its grown up variety.
Next up, purple cabbage shredded. I just love the colours in this salad.
I peel my kohlrabi and slice it into matchsticks.
Dice up my sweet red pepper and toss it in.
Take my zucchini and slice it into matchsticks. No picture for this one!! Not sure what happened. Sorry!
Toast almonds in a pan on the stovetop. Please don’t walk away and try to do other tasks while you do this. I once toasted some peanuts and tried to multi-task which resulted in me having the opportunity to clean out all of my kitchen cupboards to remove the smell of burnt peanuts….. Don’t do it! On a side note, I really wanted to make this with pumpkin seeds but my daughter had used up the last of my pumpkin seeds for her energy bites so when I went to get them, pumpkin seeds became almonds…. I think you could probably be fairly flexible with whatever nuts you have on hand. I think pistachios, walnuts, hazel nuts, pecans (natural or candied) would work nicely.
Because most of the ingredients in this salad are a little on the bitter side, I made the dressing with a little bit of sweet.
Mix together olive oil, peach balsamic vinegar (that I bought in this great little store in Hood River http://www.aromehoodriver.com/) fresh garlic, salt, pepper, a little bit of my brother-in-law’s Flo Hive honey 
and finish it with some dried dill and mix it up. You could use any white balsamic but I feel like a regular balsamic may be a bit overwhelming to the dressing and may mask the flavours of the vegetables.
Toss dressing with the salad and enjoy the crunch! Sorry about the poor lighting on the finished salad. I lost track of my timing and my light!
Autumn Slaw
Colourful slaw with a nice balance of sweet and bitter.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Baby kale Shredded
- 1/2 Cup Purple cabbage Sliced
- 1/2 Cup Kohlrabi Julienned
- 1/2 Cup Zucchini Julienned
- 1/2 Cup Sweet red pepper chopped
- 1/4 Cup Almonds Toasted
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil Extra Virgin
- 1/4 cup Peach White Balsamic Vinegar Or other available white balmsamic
- 1 Tsp Honey
- 2 Cloves Fresh Garlic Minced
- 2 Tsp Dried Dill
- Salt To taste
- Pepper To taste!
Instructions
-
Wash and shred baby kale and place in bowl.
Slice purple cabbage into thin slices and add to bowl.
Julienne (slice into matchsticks) the kohlrabi and zucchini and add to bowl.
Toast almonds and add to bowl.
Set bowl aside and get a container to make the dressing in.
Mix all dressing ingredients well. Taste the dressing to ensure that seasoning tastes good to you. Add seasoning as needed to make your palate happy.
Once you are happy with the taste of the dressing, add it to the salad bowl and toss well.
Serve!
Did you make this salad? Did you change it? How did you like it? Send me a note at kat@4loveoffood.com or leave a comment.
I was lucky enough to have this slaw at Kerri-Anne’s house and have to say it is quite addictive. I have made it several times since and plan to add it to our Thanksgiving menu. I probably free poured more honey than listed but I was using regular white balsamic and not the peach. I have also added an apple on one occasion and it is was delicious! Thanks KA!
This scrumptious dish is coming to our Thanksgiving!! Thanks, KA, for the recipe and the inspiration!!
Thanks, Jacque. Let me know how you like it.