Crunchy Broccoli Stem Slaw with Hoisin Vinaigrette
We’ve been taking our meals outside and the on the road recently, with sunny skies and weekend trips. This supremely Crunchy Broccoli Stem Slaw with Hoisin Vinaigrette is a portable salad win. We love this slaw for its deeply satisfying crispness, starting the brilliant use of thinly sliced broccoli stems, slivered red cabbage, bright carrots, crunchy peanuts and baked tortilla strips top off this slaw, with a punchy Asian inspired vinaigrette featuring hoisin and ginger. With a base of sturdy veggies, this slaw only improves as it sits, making it a prime work or school lunch, travel salad, or potluck dish. To cut down on prep time, you can grab a bag of pre-cut broccoli slaw mix at your local grocery.
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients:
Broccoli Stem Slaw:
- 5 cups thinly sliced crispy vegetables (1 bunch broccoli stems, 2 carrots, 1/4 small red cabbage; or you can use a 12 oz bag of pre-cut broccoli slaw mix)
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 2 tablespoons mint, chopped
- 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons peanuts, roughly chopped
Hoisin Vinaigrette:
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
- Hot sauce to taste
Tortilla Strips:
- 4 small tortillas, cut into thin strips
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 425.
- For the tortilla strips: Toss the tortilla strips with oil, salt and garlic powder until evenly combined. Place the seasoned tortilla strips on a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon baking mat. Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned and crispy. Allow to cool.
- For the hoisin vinaigrette: Place all the ingredients (hoisin, soy sauce, vinegar, honey, fish sauce, oil, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, and hot sauce) in a small bowl and whisk until combined.
- For the broccoli slaw: Combine the slaw ingredients in a large bowl (mixed veggies, cilantro, mint, green onions, and peanuts). Pour in the hoisin vinaigrette and toss to combine. Top the tossed slaw with cooled tortilla strips. If you are not eating immediately, store the tortilla strips separate from the slaw mixture to keep them crispy.
Crisp Thai Cucumber & Peanut Salad
A Caribbean flu hit our household in Haiti this week. First Paul, then me, now the kids. Sigh. During times of illness, my go-to comfort food is the reassuringly simple, cool, and refreshing cucumber. Cucumbers are my vegetable equivalent of chicken soup. As I gradually felt better throughout the week, my cucumber salads became more elaborate and flavorful. This Crisp Thai Cucumber & Peanut Salad, a Thai-inspired riff, is crunchy, sour, and salty, with a hint of coconut sweetness.
Honey Sesame Vinaigrette
The season of bounteous and beautiful salad greens has arrived in force. With our fridge bulging with market lettuces we thought it was time to share one of our favorite dressings: Honey Sesame Vinaigrette. This quick and easy dressing brings warm and zinging ginger flavor, balanced with sweetness from honey and roasted undertones of sesame. Honey Sesame Vinaigrette is also a great base vinaigrette to customize with your favorite fresh herbs: cilantro, mint, Thai basil, green onions, and chives all taste great.
Kale and Red Leaf Salad with Apple Mint Vinaigrette
Kale and Red Leaf Salad with Apple Mint Vinaigrette is an unusual and delicious salad that we made this evening with our first spring batch of local green kale. Kale is the quiet gawky kid in the corner who landed the starring role in the school play and never looked back. Kale has a serious following of die-hard fans who devour it in all forms; chips, smoothies, ice cream, brownies, pesto. Kale is a cancer-fighting super-food loaded with beta-carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, calcium, and antioxidants. To learn about the many ways to use kale and its nutritional value check out Deborah Madison's new book Vegetable Literacy. This Kale and Red Leaf Salad is a tasty example of raw kale serving as a base for this distinctive crisp apple mint vinaigrette.
Red Cabbage Slaw
In these chilly first days of spring, Red Cabbage Slaw bridges the divide between the hearty stewed dishes of winter and the fresh colors of spring. Red cabbage is the perfect cross-over vegetable for this task, with its' sturdy wholesomeness standing up beautifully to a winter filled with pickling, braising and roasting. Red cabbage effortlessly adapts to its new role, partnering with picnics and barbecues in this savory slaw.
Baked Tofu & Pickled Vegetable Rice Bowl
Baked Tofu and Pickled Vegetable Rice Bowl is a modern version of one of my childhood favorites. Growing up I was a very picky eater with a limited and perplexing range of favorites. On the top of my list was fried tofu with ketchup, a crunchy and comforting dish. I have happy memories of gobbling mounds of golden cubes dunked liberally with organic green tomato ketchup. To my parents great relief, my eating repertoire has evolved a bit since then, but my love for tofu remains.
Paul on the other hand, has a grown-up aversion to tofu. Whenever I cook with tofu, he expresses a strong concern that I am covertly working to turn him into a vegetarian, his own personal horror! Despite himself, Paul scraped his bowl clean and gives this dish two thumbs up.
