Cilantro Mango Coleslaw
This cool and crunchy side dish is a summer must! The sweetness of the mango combined with the crisp cabbage is a refreshing break from the summer heat. I served it last night alongside grilled salmon and it was fabulous! While I'm certain that it would pair well with any other seafood entree, it would also be a great side for grilled chicken, steaks, and burgers too, (or grilled tofu for my vegan friends). This Cilantro Mango Coleslaw is so good, that you could even enjoy it all on its own! But this is the Summer Side Series and it's all about those sides!
I often prepare food like Jaques Pepin, looking for ideas on how to use up what I already have on hand. Right now, the garden is busting out with cabbage, and each head is about the size of a basketball! Brad's anxious to harvest it while I'm thinking, "What the heck am I going to do with all that cabbage?" While there must be a thousand ways to prepare coleslaw, I had a mango and a bunch of cilantro on hand, so I pulled one head of cabbage and got creative in the kitchen. I simply tossed the shredded cabbage with chunks of mango, chopped cilantro, green onion, and a rice vinaigrette. This recipe is more of a guideline for you but like so many Tried and True recipes that I share, there are always options for variation!
Ingredients:
1 small head of cabbage (or 1/2 of a large one like I had)
1 to 2 mangos cut into 1 1/2" thin strips
1 medium carrots grated or thinly sliced
3 celery stalks thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
1/ 4 large red onion thinly sliced (or 2 to 3 green onions)
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Dressing:
1/2 large mango peeled and cut into chunks
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1 to 2 tbsp. honey
1 to 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. coarse ground pepper
1/4 tsp. Red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup Canola oil (I used olive oil)
Instructions:
Toss the vegetables together in a large bowl and allow to chill in the refrigerator.
Combine the mango chunks, lime juice, garlic, ginger, 1 tbsp. of honey, 1 tbsp. of vinegar, salt, and peppers in a blender and blend until smooth.
While the blender is running, slowly add the oil until everything is combined.
Add more honey or vinegar according to taste.
Pour the dressing over the chilled vegetables and toss together.
Serve and enjoy!
Note: Coleslaw is best served immediately after adding the dressing. If you want to prepare this ahead of time, just have it all ready to go, keeping the vegetables and the dressing chilled separately, and then toss them together just before serving.
Remember, you can change it up with whatever you may have on hand ... sliced jalapenos would add a little zip, different varieties of sweet peppers would add more color, and other varieties of oils and vinegars would potentially create a whole new explosion of flavor!
*This recipe was adapted from wholelottayum.com