I emailed Bec some ideas on what to do with the mixing bowl full of leftover sliced cabbage I had in my fridge from testing the Crispy Bison Tacos . I envisioned a slaw with shredded carrots and radishes or sautéed cabbage with a splash of sweet balsamic vinegar.
“Too much work,” Bec replied. She said she’d rather make a simple salad, a mix that could serve as a side for a wrap or sandwich or the base for a meal-size salad later in the week. “Lime dressing?” I suggested. “Rice vinegar,” she countered, since there’s no squeezing.
I grabbed a few handfuls of shredded cabbage, dowsed them with seasoned rice vinegar, and then thought: What would Bec do? She tops everything with pumpkin seeds since she likes their laundry list of vitamins and minerals. Perfect.
The sweet seasoned rice vinegar compliments the peppery cabbage, and the pumpkin seeds add chew. On day one I mixed the salad with chopped Romaine and topped it with leftover steak and roasted root vegetables. On day two, my husband and I ate it alongside turkey sandwiches instead of popchips. And by day three, the vinegar had mellowed the cabbage’s bite, but not its satisfying crunch. I sliced on some avocado for a snack between brunch and early dinner with the kids.
This salad won’t change your life. But it stomps on chips, nutritionally speaking, and I cannot stand watching anything rot in my fridge. If you want to invest more time and effort on cabbage dish, here are a few ideas from The New York Time’s Martha Rose Shulman.
—Melissa
Cabbage and Pumpkin Seed Salad
Time: 10 minutes
Yield: plenty
¾ to 1 whole head purple cabbage, thinly sliced
½ cup seasoned rice vinegar
¾ cup unsalted roasted pumpkin seeds
Quarter the cabbage. Place the pieces flat side down on a cutting board. Start from the cut side (not the rounded side), and slice each quarter into very thin shreds. Toss the cabbage with the rice vinegar and pumpkin seeds in a large bowl.
