Cannellini Bean and Red Cabbage Salad with a Pesto Dressing

Salad is a newer thing to me, something I've only really gotten to know as an adult.

Don't get me wrong. As a kid, I had vegetables every single night. It was just that when my parents had salad, my brother and I would stubbornly have bowls of chopped veggies. Yes, the same vegetables they had in their salads. Trust me, they tasted really different that way.

And when I would have a bowl of salad, it would always be dressing free. Healthy? Yes. Tasty? Not really.

I really started having salads again when I began going over for dinner for a home-cooked meal each week with two of my dearest friends, both of whom grew up having salad with dinner every night.

We'd have our entree, always fantastic. Then, just when I felt like I had reached my limit, the salad would come out.

Usually it was a BFS, a big fat salad. It would be loaded with greens, veggies and a sprinkling of some kind of cheese. Imagine a salad filled with avocado, hearts of palm, fresh tomatoes and sliced peppers. It was always lightly dressed, with a bit of lemon in the dressing, and always delicious.

Other times, the salad was much more simple. Arugula with a simple dressing and a bit of parmesan. Raw kale with radishes, lightly dressed.

The dinner tradition continues, but I've taken to making my own salads occasionally too. I figure having salad more than once a week might actually be a good thing.

While this isn't the most veggie-heavy salad I've ever had, it's quick and tasty. It came together in under five minutes, and it kept me well fed for lunch at work for most of a week.




Cannellini Bean and Red Cabbage Salad with a Pesto Dressing
recipe adapted from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients
2 19-ounce cans of cannellini beans, well rinsed
4 cups shredded red cabbage
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
3 tablespoons basil pesto
A generous sprinkling of salt and pepper

Combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir well. Let stand at room temperature for at least 15 minutes to allow flavors to come together. Serve at room temperature

Brussels Sprouts and Apple-Cabbage Slaw Sandwich

As a kid, I didn't like brussels sprouts. I thought they were too bitter and boring. I quickly pushed them aside whenever they were served.


Today, I can't get enough of them (though I haven't ever blogged about them before). Chuko serves caramelized crispy brussels sprouts as one of its nightly appetizers, and they alone are worth the trip. I love them roasted in the oven, sauteed with butter and shallots and even raw when they're thinly sliced as salad.

Then, I found out that Endless Simmer rated the No. 7's Brussels Sprouts Sandwich as number two in its Top Ten Sandwiches of 2011. The sandwich featured brussels sprouts, apple slaw and peanuts atop a sandwich roll. Needless to say, I was intrigued.

This sandwich is a vegan paradise. It starts with a hearty base of sauteed brussels sprouts with dried cranberries and garlic. It's topped with a delicious apple-cabbage slaw that's got just a hint of cumin in it. A thick spread of roasted red pepper hummus finishes the sandwich off.

Delicious.

The components were addictive on their own, and after a day of brussels sprouts sandwiches, we eagerly enjoyed the leftovers.

Amhari-Atklit (Ethiopian Vegetable Stew)

I think amhari-atklit is my favorite Ethiopian dish. It's a mild vegetable stew, filled with chunks of potatoes, green beans, cabbage and carrots. The vegetables cook up evenly, and they absorb the mild spices they are cooked in. The stew doesn't require any Ethiopian spice mixes, and I had most of the ingredients in my pantry at home. After my big Ethiopian dinner, I ate this dish twice a day for almost a week.

Slow cookers are a necessity if you are planning a big Ethiopian dinner. I made this dish in advance, and I transferred it to a slow cooker to stay warm. If you're like me in a small apartment with no room to store slow cookers (or just don't have a lot of slow cookers lying around at home), borrow them from the guests who are coming to the party.

This stew is a nice contrast to the protein-heavy dishes usually found in Ethiopian cooking.