A fresh, light, textural salad full of crunch; this Thai Style Vegan Cabbage Salad has a delicious creamy dressing, toasted seeds, veggies and herbs. A beautiful light meal or a side to your main. Can be made ahead.
Raw Vegan Thai Cabbage Salad Free From Nuts
For years, I have been making Thai-Style salads that incorporate toasted nuts as a garnish and/or nut butter as a key ingredient in the creamy dressing. They are all delicious but tend to be higher in allergens. Lately, I have been re-inventing the wheel by adding fresh updates to age-old recipes and newer ways to enjoy lesser-used ingredients. For example, seeds like sunflower, pumpkin and sesame. All of which I have used in this salad instead of nuts for the crunchy element. Tahini replaces peanut butter. Although both are high in good fats, tahini pairs really well with orange and soy to create a truly umami flavour palette for this salad.
Inspired by a raw Pad Thai, this raw cabbage salad is incredibly easy to put together. The creaminess of the dressing holds all the dry ingredients together and doesn't make the cabbage sweat or wilt. This means, it keeps well in the fridge and stays fresh for up to 2-3 days. I like to add a whole, long, red cayenne chilli to this salad for that extra bite. I even keep the seeds on. But if spice isn't your thing, you can deseed and add only half of the chilli.
Ingredients
I toast the seeds in a heavy-bottomed frying pan on low heat until they are fragrant and golden. The salad is a great meal prep recipe. It only takes ten minutes to put together the salad as a whole. If you are making this for a special meal, you can prep the veggies, toast the seeds and make the dressing ahead of time and simply mix it all at the end.
Recipe
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Ingredients
- 3 cups (220 g) cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 (150 g) large carrot, grated
- 4 (40 g) spring onions, thinly sliced
- ½ cup coriander leaves, chopped
- 1 red cayenne chilli, deseeded and sliced
- 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon pepitas/pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon tahini, hulled and runny
- ¼ cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
- 2 teaspoons coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place cabbage, carrot, spring onion, coriander and chilli in a large bowl.
- Toast sunflower, sesame and pumpkin seeds on medium-low heat in a heavy-bottomed frying pan. Toss to ensure the seeds don’t burn. Remove from heat when sesame seeds are starting to turn golden and seeds are aromatic.
- Add toasted seeds to the cabbage in the bowl.
- Add sesame oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, tahini, orange juice, coconut sugar, ginger and salt in a medium bowl. Mix well with a metal spoon to remove all lumps and create a creamy dressing.
- Add dressing to the salad and mix well.
- Salad keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Delicious. I’ve been asked to make it again.