Sometimes the best recipes come from opening the fridge and working with whatever you’ve actually got.
This salad started as a bit of a “we need a healthy side for the BBQ and we’re very light on vegetables” situation. We had cabbage, lettuce and coriander, so I decided to throw together a crunchy slaw-style salad to go alongside some lamb sausages and pork spare ribs.
And honestly? I think I’ve found my new favourite salad.
The combination of crunchy cabbage, fresh lettuce, crisp apple and coriander is so good, especially with the simple homemade dressing. It’s fresh, crunchy, slightly sweet and tangy, and it works beautifully alongside BBQ meat.
I loved it so much that I made it again the very next night.
The first version
For the first salad I used:
- Cabbage, finely shredded
- Cos lettuce, shredded
- Green capsicum, thinly sliced
- Apple, thinly sliced
- Fresh coriander
For the dressing, I used avocado oil, white vinegar, honey, mustard, salt and black pepper.
The honey made a lovely difference to the dressing. It added just enough sweetness without making the salad sweet.
The second version
The next night I made myself a single-serve version using:
- Finely shredded cabbage
- 1 cos lettuce leaf, shredded
- 1 baby cucumber, thinly sliced
- Apple, thinly sliced
- Fresh coriander
This time I made the full amount of dressing separately, then added just a few teaspoons to my individual salad. The rest went into a container in the fridge for another salad.
And that might actually be my favourite way to make it.
The cabbage stays beautifully crunchy, and having the dressing ready to go means I can throw together a fresh salad in a couple of minutes.
The dressing
The dressing is wonderfully simple:
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon vinegar — apple cider, white or red wine vinegar all work
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon or wholegrain mustard
- Salt
- Plenty of freshly cracked black pepper
Whisk everything together and taste. You can adjust the vinegar or honey depending on how tangy or sweet you like your dressing.
How I make it
Finely shred the cabbage and lettuce, then add your other vegetables and fruit.
I like the apple sliced fairly thinly so you get a little bit of crisp sweetness in every bite.
Add the coriander and toss everything together.
If you’re serving the salad straight away, add the dressing just before serving and toss well.
If you’re making it ahead or preparing individual portions, keep the dressing separate and add it just before eating.
Why I love this salad
It’s one of those recipes that doesn’t really feel like a “healthy salad.”
It’s crunchy, fresh and actually satisfying, rather than being a bowl of sad leaves on the side of your dinner.
It also happens to be incredibly flexible.
Don’t have capsicum? Leave it out.
Have cucumber? Throw it in.
Got carrot, spring onion, feta, nuts or seeds? They’ll all work.
And if you’ve got some leftover BBQ chicken or meat in the fridge, I reckon this would make a fantastic base for a quick lunch the next day.
My favourite combination so far
Cabbage + cos lettuce + apple + baby cucumber + coriander + that honey-mustard dressing.
Simple, crunchy and ridiculously good.
This started as a “use what we’ve got” BBQ side.
It has officially become one of my favourite salads.