This is my bastardized version of Mission Chinese Food’s beautiful cabbage salad. But hey, sometimes when you’re a college student on a budget you have to pick and choose which exotic pantry items you can afford and which are just going to have to wait. I used peanuts for a crunchy element, although I would love to try it with some sort of grain. I also cut out quite a few ingredients that I couldn’t find at the local market but still thought it came out pretty good.
note: This makes a BIG salad. I wanted to use the whole cabbage in one go so I upped the dressing, the good news is it makes for great leftovers. On the other hand you can always use half a cabbage and dial down the dressing measurements.
- 1 head red cabbage
- 1 large yellow beet
- 1/2 cup peanuts
- 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 4 tbsp tahini (you’ll definitely want a runnier tahini for this, the Whole Foods 365 one is my best friend)
- 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 clove garlic
- 8 anchovy fillets (preferable ones packed in olive oil)
- juice of one lemon
- 2 sheets nori (like the big sushi ones)
- slice cabbage and beets (I did matchstick cuts-see photo) and mince garlic
- in a bowl or jar add tahini, lemon juice, minced garlic, tamari (or soy sauce) and rice vinegar and shake well
- slice the anchovy fillets as finely as possible then add them to the dressing and continue shaking until combined
- heat a non stick skillet over medium high heat then add the sesame seeds, make sure to keep an eye on them and continue tossing them
- once they start to smell nice and turn a little brown remove them from the pan
- in the same pan add the peanuts and do the same thing
- rip the nori into little pieces and add it to your big bowl of cabbage and beets, add the nuts and seeds as well then pour dressing over
- mix thoroughly with tongs or your hands
© 2015, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.