With this Tangy Sweet Chili Slaw recipe in your back pocket, you’ll never again feel guilty about settling for a no-side dish dinner!
Some nights it’s hard enough to muster the energy to put together a main dish, much less concoct some sort of healthy side dish. Those are the nights when dinner might consist of nothing more than a few hot dogs tossed on the grill, which is then served with toasted buns and lots of condiments. Although I love a good, creamy coleslaw, and often make it as a quick side dish for burgers and dogs (I love using half Greek yogurt and half mayo in my dressing), sometimes a creamy slaw seems wrong. More often, however, it’s simply that I forgot to pick up Greek yogurt in my last grocery order, so I’m scrambling for an alternative to creamy coleslaw. Enter this recipe, which was introduced to me via my Blue Apron subscription last year. Consisting of just four ingredients: (1) cabbage; (2) scallions; (3) Thai sweet chili sauce; and (4) an acid, such as apple cider, rice vinegar, or lime juice, this recipe comes together in a flash and serves as a decently healthy side to so many basic meals!
Pro-tip: Scallions can virtually be a pantry staple if you only use the green parts and then keep the root end submerged in water in a sunny spot! See Catbird Life post SWANKY SWIG SCALLION HACK for details on how to re-grow your scallions.
Once you mix up the Tangy Sweet Chili Slaw and let it rest for 15-30 minutes, it will lose its raw texture and instead develop a lovely pickled crunch. As you can see in the second image, it will also lose a lot of volume.
Tangy Sweet Chili Slaw
Approximately two servings
Ingredients
Wedge of red or green cabbage (or mix of both!), approximately 1/8 of a large head and 1/4 of a smaller head
2 scallions
3 Tablespoons Thai sweet red chili sauce
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar, or rice vinegar, or lime juice
salt & pepper
Preparation
Lay cabbage wedge on its side and using a sharp knife slice into very thin shreds. Thinly slice scallions. Place both ingredients into a large bowl.
Measure out both the Thai sweet red chili sauce and the acid (apple cider/rice vinegar or lime juice) right into the bowl of shredded cabbage and scallions. Add in a pinch of salt (I use about a 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt, which equals about a 1/4 teaspoon of regular table salt) and a few grinds of pepper.
Using two large spoons, toss and mix well. Let stand for at least 15 minutes. Slaw will pickle slightly and lose some volume. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Serve & enjoy!
This recipe is easily doubled.
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ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS BY STACEY UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED.
