The Shredded Salad (or why I need a salad shooter)

This post is from Calee from Sacred and the Profane. Thank you, Calee!

This summer is wearing on me. Don’t get me wrong, I love the hot, sweaty days at the pool, the promise of vacation, the grilled chicken breasts—but most days? I’m running on sunscreen fumes and when it comes to dinnertime—don’t ask me for a side dish. You may have chicken.

After one too many spinach salads (my husband won’t eat lettuce unless he has to be polite) I was out of cool, green vegetable ideas. Since we spend around half the year as vegans, this was a giant problem. No veggie ideas, no food.

Enter the shredded salad. Trader Joes saved my faux gourmet butt when they released broccoli slaw in a bag. Mixed with a little of their spicy peanut dressing, grown men start asking for seconds. I’m serious, it’s happened with our guests at least 3 times.

Since not everyone has a Trader Joes down the street, I can only get away with serving this combo once a week and our local store seems to be out of the broccoli slaw goodness, I thought I’d share the evolution of the shredded salad. You too, can eat veggies that don’t suck!

Basically. This is anything crunchy and fresh in your fridge. My bowl includes: cabbage, carrots, green onions, a couple of snap peas, radishes and a beet.

That salad shooter I got from our wedding then promptly returned would come in handy right about now. Pop all that shredded goodness in a bowl and mix it together. As is, this mixture will keep about 4-5 days, depending on your ingredient list. Put it in a plastic bag and add dressing just before serving.

I HATE mayonaise. I hate almost all white, creamy things so you’ll never see me eat traditional coleslaw. Thanks to the cabbage, you could just pour some ranch dressing on this and serve it with burgers. But if you’re feeling fancy and fusion, here’s what I used.

1 Tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
1 squeeze of honey
3 TB olive oil
some lemon juice—sorry, I forgot to measure. Just a dash. Really.
Salt, pepper
Chopped cilantro (if you’re making this way ahead of time, save the cilantro until it’s ready to serve)

Mix all this up with a fork (or a whisk if you’re fancy) and pour it over the shredded salad up to a ½ hour before serving. Toss in a generous handful of honey roasted peanuts and you’ve got something really special for these last few summer nights.