Malky’s Red Cabbage Salad 

Not long ago, we were invited for a Shabbat meal to my SIL Diane and bro Avi and in addition to the pleasure of their company, Diane whipped up a something thatt particularly wowed me – this fabulous red cabbage salad. It had an amazing dressing (crazy simple, it turns out) and was crunchy and interesting and just plain yum. This recipe was given to her by her good friend Malky (who’s a terrific cook) and it will add so much to your table that you will find yourself making it again and again as I now do. In fact, we just hosted our grandson Ori and he loved it so much that I suspect he will be making this for his family at home.

So gather the salad ingredients

and the salad dressing/sauce ingredients

and let’s put it all together!

Into a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients (you can halve this if you wish, but I find it delicious the next day as well so I prefer the full amount) place the shredded or thinly sliced red cabbage. On top of this place the chopped scallions, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and blanched slivered almonds. A note. Malky toasts her slivered almonds. I tried the salad with toasted slivered almonds and untoasted and truth? I think I prefer the untoasted. So it’s as you wish. The last thing you place on top is a packet of ramen noodles, uncooked (and toss the flavor packet away or make yourself a cup of broth to sip while you work).

BUT now I’ll share a little trick with you, before you add the ramen noodles, which you break into chunks, stop! Ask yourself, hmm, how soon am I serving this salad? If, as I often do, you aren’t ready to put it on the table and wish to serve it later in the day, place your bowl, except the noodles, covered into the fridge. You will add the noodles and dressing right before serving and it will take you but a minute to serve and this way you keep the noodles crispy. So, you will righteously ask, then how can you serve the leftovers the next day? Simple, it’s also really good with the noodles softened. So you’re good to go either way. K.

So crumble the noodles over the top of the salad like so:

set bowl aside and prepare the dressing. By the by, when I tuck the salad sans noodles in the fridge, I prepare the dressing and store in fridge as well so it’s all ready to roll. K.

Place in a bowl you can whisk ingredients in or a sealable container you can stir it all up in, the oil, rice vinegar, brown sugar and Himalayan salt. To answer the questions before you ask them, yes, try to use rice vinegar, it’s less strident and gives a nice acid balance without it being too strong and I find the Himalayan salt (Malky’s choice btw) to add a certain something. It does not taste like regular salt to me but you can sub it out with regular salt. Onward.

Now if you’re ready to serve, Pour about 3/4 of the dressing over the salad and toss well. You can add the rest if you feel it’s a bit dry. Toss once more and serve.

Crunchy, refreshing and delightful to the palate.

Malky’s Red Cabbage Salad

For the cabbage mixture:

14 ounces (400 grams) packaged sliced or shredded red cabbage
2-3 chopped scallions
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 tablespoons blanched, slivered almonds
1 package ramen noodles, 3 ounces (85 grams) uncooked

For the dressing/sauce:

1/2 cup (100 grams) oil
6 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon Himalayan salt

Directions:

In a large bowl, layer in the red cabbage, then on top the scallions, then the pumpkin and sesame seeds and the slivered almonds. At this point, if not ready to serve, you can cover the salad and refrigerate. Don’t add the ramen till ready to serve. If ready, crumble the ramen over the salad. In a bowl or container, whisk together the oil, rice vinegar, brown sugar and Himalayan salt. Whisk smooth. Pour 3/4 of the dressing over the salad and toss well. If it seems a tad dry, add the rest of the dressing and toss. Toss once more before bringing to the table.