Cabbage and Apple Salad

Name: Cabbage and Apple Salad: Light Vitamin Appetizer in 10 Mins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Fresh cabbage 0.5 small head; Sweet-and-sour apples 2-3; Scallions 2-3 stalks; Parsley, dill a few sprigs each; Sugar 0.5 tsp (2 g); Cranberries 2 tbsp; Grape vinegar 1 tbsp; Olive oil 3 tbsp; Black pepper 2-3 peppercorns per serving; Lemon juice or balsamic vinegar a few drops (optional)

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15 mins

This simple cabbage and apple salad is for anyone who likes dieting and healthy eating. A little prep, and you get a great low-calorie appetizer made of nothing but vitamins, ready in 10 mins. The nice thing is that every ingredient is available all year round. You can also swap some ingredients or add anything you like.

Any vegetable salad with apples can go without oil-based dressings or acidic ingredients, because the apple brings its own tartness. Make a fresh apple salad right before serving so the peeled apples don’t darken. And of course, the salad doesn’t need chilling and is served at room temperature.

The cabbage and apple salad we are making combines shredded white cabbage, sweet-and-sour apples cut into wedges, and fresh herbs. A small amount of pickled cranberries adds a special touch, and they are easy to prepare shortly before serving. The salad is dressed with olive oil and served at the start of a meal. Or instead of lunch, if you are on a diet.

You can skip the salt in this green apple salad if you like. By the rules it should be salted, but the salad is so delicate that it is better to add a little pepper instead. Salt also draws out liquid, and apples and salt don’t go together very well. Since cabbage has a neutral flavor, plain olive oil and the acidity of the apples and cranberries work better than a spicy dressing.

When people ferment cabbage, they often add apples to boost the flavor. I don’t do that myself, but I know such cabbage turns out delicious.

First of all, a tasty apple salad starts with sweet-and-sour apples. They don’t have to look perfect like on a magazine cover. What matters is that you like the taste. For the cabbage, it is best to take young or not very firm white cabbage, so the shredded cabbage is soft and easy to chew. Cranberries can be fresh or frozen.

Ingredients

2 servings

Fresh cabbage 0.5 small head
Sweet-and-sour apples 2-3
Scallions 2-3 stalks
Parsley, dill a few sprigs each
Sugar 0.5 tsp (2 g)

Cranberries 2 tbsp
Grape vinegar 1 tbsp

Olive oil 3 tbsp
Black pepper 2-3 peppercorns per serving
Lemon juice or balsamic vinegar a few drops (optional)

Step-by-step recipe

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Pickled cranberries

Pickle the cranberries the day before: rinse the berries and cover them with 1 tbsp grape vinegar. Overnight the berries develop a pleasant sweet-and-sour taste. By the way, you can use them not only in this cabbage and apple salad but also in a sauce for meatballs.

Cabbage, herbs and apples

Cabbage and apple salad should be made from the freshest, not very firm cabbage. Young cabbage is ideal: it is juicy and its leaves are not too coarse in the salad. For a salad for two, half of a small head is enough.

Shred the cabbage thinly: pull off the outer leaves, as they are usually a bit limp and may be spoiled. If you have the skill, you can shred it with a knife, or use an inexpensive kitchen shredder. Don’t knead the shredded cabbage, or there will be a lot of juice, and a salad with apples should be “dry”.
Add 0.5 tsp sugar (2 g), toss lightly and leave for 5 mins so the sugar dissolves.
Chop the herbs and add them to the cabbage: pick all the leaves off the parsley and dill sprigs, discard the stems and chop the herbs with a knife, not too finely. Chop the green part of the scallions, without the white, finely.
Peel and slice the apples: the salad is made with peeled apples, so you need only the flesh. Peel the apples carefully, remove the cores and seeds, and cut the apples into wedges. Rinse the pickled cranberries and add them to the salad together with the apples.

Mix the salad and dress it with olive oil. If everything was done right, the salad will have no liquid; otherwise it is better to drain it off carefully.

Serving

Pile the salad into salad bowls or plates of a suitable size and season with black pepper. It is ideal if you grind it from peppercorns right before using. Then the pepper is at its most aromatic and you need very little, literally 2-3 peppercorns per serving.
Serve the salad right away, at room temperature, garnished with a sprig of herbs. If you want a tarter salad or the apples turned out too sweet, add a few drops of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. Alternatively, you can drizzle the appetizer with cranberry juice.

Calories and macros

185 kcal

Serving ≈ 460 g

Protein4 g11% of kcal
Fat0 g3% of kcal
Carbs33 g87% of kcal

100 g40 kcalProtein 0.9 gFat 0.1 gCarbs 7 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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Cabbage and Apple Salad

Ingredients

For the salad

For the pickled cranberries

For dressing and serving