I took a break from the thesis yesterday evening and went to an amazing gathering of women. It was so nice to be around women in a celebratory space. Before getting massaged and hennaed we shared food. I brought this salad and the ladies loved it and asked for the recipe. We enjoyed it with mashed yams, brown rice, and a lovely quiche. The salad was a bright, fresh accompaniment.
Cabbage salads (or slaws) are so easy they almost beg you to improvise. This one I made in about 15 minutes with just what I had in my fridge. The trick is to use a sharp knife or a vegetable planer because you need to slice everything really thinly so the marinade softens the cabbage and the flavors blend. I was seduced by the kumquats at the market the other day but wasn't exactly sure how I was going to use them. This salad perfectly highlighted their jewel nature.
This salad is the perfect spring time dish because it contains many pungent foods such as ginger, garlic and radish which all have compounds which render them powerful antibacterial and anti infectious agents. In interviewing people about cold and flu remedies, I have found several that call for cabbage. Cabbage is a good cold immunity enhancer because it contains a ton of vitamin C (more than oranges even). The outer leaves especially are rich in calcium. And it is also known throughout the world to beautify the skin!
Daikon radishes are good for the digestion and the lungs- which may be a bit sluggish and congested from winter. Daikon cleanses the blood, promotes energy circulation and increases the metabolic rate (therefore helping weight loss). Daikon is also known in Chinese medicine as a preventative for respiratory infections. The reason for this is that it opens up and cleanses the lungs.
Look for daikons that aren't too
big, but are heavy for their size and firm. They should also be pure white and organic. Fresh daikon has a sweet taste but when it gets old, it can get pithy and overly spicy. Also, daikon usually arrives at grocery stores with the leaves attached, and grocers then remove them. You can request these and use them in soups- they're delicious and have all of the health properties of the daikon. Cooking a daikon is easy- although I usually eat it raw. There is no need to peel it and you can use it any way you would a carrot.
Burdock (also known as Gobo) is also in this salad. I eat a lot of burdock in the spring because it is one of the best foods to cool and cleanse the liver. It is also simply delicious- it has a lovely nutty, grounding flavor. It's also good for shedding extra weight accumulated from a winter's worth of heavy foods. Look for roots that aren't too rubbery; you want it fresh because when it gets old it gets difficult to peel.
I used an entire bunch of cilantro in this salad because I never feel like you can have too much cilantro and it goes bad fairly quickly. If I had some thai basil I might use that as well, or perhaps some mint.
RECIPE:
1/2 a green cabbage,
1/2 a red cabbage
4 green onions
1/2 a large daikon
12'' burdock root
about 15 or 20 kumquats
1 bunch cilantro
Dressing:
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste
1 inch ginger, grated
2 tbsps tamari
2 tbsps agave nectar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp ume plum vinegar
1 meyer lemon (zest and juice)
3 tbsps olive oil
black pepper
6 calendula flowers for garnish
Thinly slice everything for the salad, or use a vegetable planer. For the burdock make sure to peel it first. I leave the cilantro leaves in tact but chop the stems.
Mix everthing in the sauce together well then spread over the salad. Mix well and top with the calendula flowers.
