This salad is a bit like a German coleslaw, to me anyway. For that reason it reminds me of summer and picnics and gatherings outside in the sun. Which is nice, because the weather hasn't exactly been delightfully spring-like lately. Last week we had a couple of really hot days, followed by a cold and misty day and then a huge hail storm. Now it's cold with the occasionally shower and I'm feeling short changed by spring! But this salad put me in a lovely spring mood, and luckily on the day that I cooked it it was rather hot!
Ingredients
1/4 green cabbage (you can also use red cabbage or a mixture of both for pretty colours)
1 large green apple
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp pineapple juice
Dressing
1/2 cup raw cashew pieces, soaked in cold water for at least an hour (or as long as over night) and drained
2 tbsp vegan cream cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp mayonnaise (a vegan brand)
To Make
1. Finely shred the cabbage and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the raisins and pineapple.
2. Core the green apple and chop finely. Add to the mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice and pineapple juice and mix through.
3. Put the cashews in a small food processor and process until it forms a smooth and creamy paste. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and process the dressing until completely smooth.
4. Stir the dressing through the salad. Chill before serving.
Serves 5-6 as a side salad.
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Hi there! I absolutely love your blog, so I do hope you won't take this the wrong way, but... I feel that you really missed the mark with this salad. I'm sure that it's delicious, but it's also very, very, far from what I could consider traditional. The only thing that's very German about it is the combination of cabbage and apple with lemon juice. This salad almost always features a substantial amount of carrot, as well as apple and cabbage. From there, one might add radishes, onions, cucumber, fennel, or celery, etc. To be honest, the only thing that really throws me off is the pineapple! That doesn't seem right at all (although it's pretty damn German, in my opinion, to throw together one too may fruits from a tin into a bowl and call it salad! ;) ). One would then dress it in olive oil and lemon juice. A creamy dressing is also very traditional, and could be made with yoghurt or sour cream and lemon juice. I know there's a health food shop on Flinders Street in Melbourne that sells an amazing plain vegan yoghurt, and Tofutti brand does a sour cream. Your dressing sounds pretty great too, though, and free from additives which is always awesome!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, I don't mind! I live in Australia so I generally rely on the internet and what people tell me, and I know that people in Germany make things differently to one another. I'm bound to get a couple of things wrong every now and then :) Although reading the details of your comment it doesn't seem like I'm that far off really. The dressing is a vegan version of the traditional creamy dressing that you mentioned, using cashews to create the cream. I'll add carrot next time though!
DeleteAs I said, I absolutely love your blog. In fact, I've spent the last three days working my way through every single post. I'm feeling super inspired, and I'm even considering doing my own sort of 'round the world' project--just for fun! For that reason, I was awfully worried that my comment would sound rude instead of helpful. If you added carrot to this salad, I think it would very recognisably be Rohkostsalat. The German in me still finds your addition of pineapple bizarre but, I confess, a friend of mine once made this salad for me using fresh orange juice--so, as you said, we Germans all do things differently, and it is not at all unusual to experiment with traditional dishes. :) I actually love your idea for a cashew cream dressing, even though I eat dairy products. I think, it might actually be nicer than traditional sour cream.
DeleteBy the way, I'm from Australia too (and I absolutely love coming across Australian vegan blogs, because I haven't had too much luck with American ones in general). However, my entire family is German, and I've spent a good deal of time living in Germany myself.
- Michaela
Don't worry Michaela, it wasn't rude at all. I love to get feeback from people who know more than I do about German food! The cashew cream is a lot lighter than a dairy based cream, although since I haven't tried the dairy version, I'd be interested to know if how it compares taste wise.
DeleteI'm so glad you're loving my blog! Since you have so much German insight, perhaps you can share with me some traditional German fare to cook and post about?