Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Orange Tahini Dressing (Vegan + GF)

The world has seemed a bit out of sorts lately. I’ll spare you my personal woes, but in addition to a certain political shift, even the weather has been…confused. In the span of two weeks, NYC has battled a snowstorm and bitter temperatures, all to be rewarded with two days 70 degree sunshine. It’s a tease of what’s to come, but not for several weeks (lest we forget that the groundhog saw its shadow this year).

Even just the sprinkling of sunshine has brought about my crunchy, raw vegetable cravings. But, I have to be honest – this recipe came from the need to use up a surplus of produce. I hosted my friend from across the pond this week and we stocked up on healthy nosh at Whole Foods, then barely made a dent by Friday. Never one to waste food, I brainstormed a way to combine all of our vegetables into one dish. So, I present to you a springy, crunchy salad that is quick and easy and costs next to nothing (cabbage is the ultimate bargain buy).

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage (your pick – I used leftover Napa cabbage and half of a purple cabbage)
4 cups of baby kale
1 large carrot
10 oz cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 cup of raw walnuts, chopped
1 apple, chopped
1 head of raw broccoli, bottom of stem removed and chopped into florets
Juice from 1 orange (about 4 tbsp)
4 tbsp of tahini paste
3 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp of agave or maple syrup
Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper powder

Directions:

Rinse all of your produce. Add the baby kale as a base to your bowl or platter. Chop off the very base of the cabbage stem, then slice your cabbage into quarters. Carefully chop each section into pieces and toss into the bowl or platter.

Chop off the stem of your carrot, then use a peeler to shave it into ribbons. Toss these into the bowl as well, along with the broccoli florets. Add in the halved cherry tomatoes, chopped walnuts, and chopped apples.

To make your dressing, combine the tahini paste, olive oil, agave or maple, rice vinegar and fresh orange juice in a blender or food processor. Blend for several seconds until smooth.

You may need to add in a tablespoon of warm water if your dressing is still thick like yogurt – sometimes tahini can be pesky, and you want this to be a bit more like dressing consistency. Blend. Dunk your pinky in for a taste, and add a few shakes of salt, pepper and cayenne as desired, then blend once more.

Toss your salad in the dressing thoroughly until the creaminess is even, and save the reserve dressing for up to a week.