Asian Slaw

Recipe courtesy of Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

This is a very tasty, crunchy salad. It’s great for a summer BBQ party. In the winter it is a far cheaper way of having fresh salad than buying salad greens in New Hampshire. You can extend it by adding shredded carrots or broccoli, which also adds to the color for a party.

This recipe came from my friend Debi. She served it at one of the many summer get-togethers, many years ago. I love it. You can serve it as a side dish or add a protein (teriyaki chicken, beef, garlic cooked shrimp, whatever you like) and serve it as a complete main course. The recipe is also on my website in my downloadable ebook. You can watch an old video of me making this, but remember that the video was made during my wheat days, so the method is the same but ingredients have changed.

Coleslaw

• ½ head of green cabbage, finely shredded—use slicing blade of processor—all you want is the ordinary coleslaw cabbage not the more expensive Savoy cabbage. The grating/shredding blade makes an incredibly fine coleslaw—your choice. Or you can quarter the cabbage, cut out core, cut through each quarter of the cabbage 3 times from core end to point and then finely slice in the opposite direction.
• 3–4 green (spring) onions, rinsed, trimmed and scissored into thin pieces (use green of green onions for salad and cut the 2–3 inches of the white of the green onions into green onion fan).
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds toasted. This is optional, for crunch. You could also try roasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
• ½ cup (2oz) coarsely chopped almonds, toasted, or peanuts or other nuts. I’m lazy and buy lightly salted peanuts or cashews (since peanuts are an allergy nut). Also bought nuts are normally already roasted so that’s one less step to do. Remember that salted nuts will add to salt content.
• 2 bricks of rice ramen noodles crumbled and toasted. I cook them in air fryer for about 5 minutes until crispy and light golden brown. You do not cook the noodles in water, just crumble the raw noodles straight from the packet. (As of June 2021, Lotus Foods’ GF rice ramen noodles, organic, 30 oz bag of 12 bricks for $8.99 in Costco. Target quoting $1.79 for 2.8 oz)

Toast the sesame seeds, almonds and noodles separately as they all brown at different times. I like to bake these in a 350°F oven when the oven is in use, and store separately in a Tupperware. Baking times will vary depending on whether your food is spread out on a large cookie sheet or clumped together in a cake pan. Check after 10 minutes and stir each one. If you smell them cooking, they could be burning.

I’ve also added corn, raw red bell pepper and chickpeas to coleslaw.

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar (labeled made from grapes, wine, apples or cider).
• 3 tbsp sugar.
• 2 tsp of chicken stock concentrate dissolved in 1 tbsp water. I use Orrington Farms’, about $4/lb, labeled gluten-free.
• ½ cup oil. Preferably use toasted peanut oil (brown in color, not clear), as ordinary vegetable oil makes a very bland dressing. I haven’t used canola oil in years. I used to buy Loriva brand peanut oil and miss it for flavor. Now with avoiding peanuts I buy Stony Brook butternut squash seed oil, available direct at Whole Hearted Foods in NY, labeled nut-free and gluten-free, but gives a nutty taste like peanut oil.

Instructions:

1. Mix sugar, wine vinegar and chicken stock concentrate together until the sugar dissolves.
2. Add oil to the mixture and shake well.
3. Just prior to serving, mix together cabbage, green onions, nut mix, noodles and re-shake dressing and serve. Use as much dressing as you want.

Unless I am making this for a large group of people, I just shred enough cabbage for that night and add sufficient nut mix and dressing for that amount of cabbage. This is because the nut mix goes soggy when left mixed with the cabbage and I don’t care for the taste of day-old coleslaw.

Note: Peanut oil is just as dangerous for people with peanut allergies as whole peanuts, so clearly mark the salad as containing peanut oil if you take it to a large gathering.

About Chef Oonagh Williams

I have written a monthly recipe column for Beyond Celiac since January 2011. I have a Culinary Arts degree as well as celiac disease and other food allergies, so I know food and live this way daily. Remember that most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers mess around with it, and only baking really needs changing. Real food is now being called clean eating.

Obviously talks and appearances are currently canceled, but you can connect with me on Facebook at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh or on LinkedIn. I’ve just filmed recipes at home for New Hampshire’s ABC WMUR’s Cooks Corner and they are being aired. I am also being included in the nationwide library database of online presenters.

For new recipes and lots of advice, my e-cookbook Delicious Gluten-Free Cooking is only $20 and available to download on my website. It has tips, full-color photos, and recipes like grandma’s comfort soup, shrimp and crab bisque, English trifle, buffalo chicken, tiramisu, dinner party fare, and more. Follow the link to see the table of contents and thumbnail photos of the full-size photos in the e-book.