Young Cabbage Salad with Carrot and Apple

Name: Young Cabbage Salad with Carrot and Apple
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Young cabbage 1 head; Sweet-and-sour apples 2; Carrot 2; Cilantro 0.5 bunch; Vegetable oil 4 tbsp; Salt, black pepper, sugar, lemon juice to taste; Cucumber, tomato, green onion optional

☆ 4.5

15 mins

In the season of young vegetables almost everyone makes cabbage salad. Young cabbage is one of the first to appear in spring. It is a tasty vegetable with tender, juicy leaves. Just shred them finely and the salad turns out delicious and healthy. The wonderful way young cabbage goes with other fresh vegetables lets you make it by hundreds of recipes.

A spring vitamin salad usually includes cucumbers and tomatoes, herbs and young cabbage. For many people this salad is traditional, and they make it by their own family recipe. Most often the shredded cabbage is salted and lightly squeezed by hand to bring out the juice. Then other vegetables are added: juicy cucumbers and tomatoes, green onion and parsley. The vegetables are dressed with vegetable oil.

It is interesting that in many world cuisines the dressing is made with fermented dairy products or mayonnaise. Still, the most common dressing is a mixture of vegetable oil, more often olive oil, with an acid such as wine or balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and so on. There are quite complex dressings made of many ingredients.

Traditionally, young cabbage salad here is dressed with sunflower oil. Unrefined oil, which smells noticeably of roasted sunflower seeds, gives the salad a special flavor and, I would say, chic. I remember that taste and aroma from childhood, although I do not make it that way now. My grandmother made cabbage salad with cucumbers and tomatoes, and always added green onion and radishes.

Buy a small head weighing up to 1 kg, firm, undamaged, with bright green outer leaves. Since the inner layers of young cabbage are usually yellow and not yet formed, it is better to use only the outer leaves in the salad.

Young vegetables are usually watery. To strengthen the flavor, salads get wine vinegar or lemon juice, whichever you prefer. A pinch of sugar mixed into the dressing gives the salad a wonderful taste. When we make this salad, we add a grated sweet-and-sour apple. So the apple flesh does not darken, we mix it with sugar and lemon juice, and then they are not added to the dressing. I also love vegetable salads with cilantro, so give it a try.

7 ingredientsTo the recipe

Ingredients

4 servings

Young cabbage 1 head
Sweet-and-sour apples 2
Carrot 2
Cilantro 0.5 bunch
Vegetable oil 4 tbsp
Salt, black pepper, sugar, lemon juice to taste
Cucumber, tomato, green onion optional

Step-by-step recipe

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If the outer leaves of the cabbage head are a little limp and yellowed, it is better to remove them carefully and not use them. By the way, the inner part near the core is also better saved for soup or borscht. If you have young carrots, the cabbage salad will taste much better. Choose small, juicy carrots. Take juicy apples with a distinctly tart taste. Add a little cilantro to the salad; it is delicious.
You can shred cabbage with a large sharp knife. But it is much more convenient, and worth buying, a small shredder for your home. It is a handy tool that does not take up much room. You can slice not only cabbage with it but other vegetables too. In addition, the set usually comes with many inserts for thin, thick and shaped cuts. Shred the young cabbage as finely as possible.
Do not squeeze the shredded cabbage, so it does not release its juice. That way the salad turns out noticeably loose and “fluffy”. Peel the carrot and grate it into long strips, as for Korean carrot salad. Peel the apples and remove the cores and seeds. Grate the apple into strips in a separate bowl, the same way as the carrot. Add 0.5 tsp of sugar (2 g) to the apple and squeeze in 1 tbsp of lemon juice.
The acid added to the apple keeps it from darkening through oxidation. Stir the grated apple and add it to the bowl with the cabbage and carrot. Pick all the leaves off the cilantro sprigs and chop them finely. If you like, add a little chopped green onion. Season the young cabbage salad with a pinch of salt and pepper. Then mix the vegetables in the bowl.
It is better to dress cabbage salad right before serving. By the way, get two plastic spoons with long handles for tossing salads in your kitchen; they are very handy. Pile the cabbage salad into serving bowls and pour 1 tbsp of vegetable oil over each portion. I prefer refined, odorless sunflower oil.
Cranberries, fresh or sauerkraut-style, are often added to such salads. Pickled vegetables are also acceptable as an addition, but that is a matter of taste. The appetizer can be made from cabbage alone, and then it should be dressed with vinaigrette sauce.