This is a great meal, y’all.  It is my adaptation of a salad in the wonderful book, Salad for Dinner, by Jeanne Kelley.

This salad is wonderful and has spicy, sweet, and savory elements and lots of crunch, thanks to the cabbage.  I think that it is a nice departure from lettuce and a good thing to make if the greens at the store are lacking.  I usually make it for Jon and me to have for lunch.  So, my boys don’t eat it — but then I haven’t given them the chance.  James is happy when I make it, though, because the ingredients list contains Sriracha sauce which he uses to flavor everything from rice to grilled cheese sandwiches.  Crazy boy.  Anyway, when I intend to have it over several days, I just make a whole recipe of the salad and dressing and divide it accordingly — saving the chopping of the cabbage and cilantro.  The dressing becomes more assertive by the day, but since it is already sort of assertive, I don’t think that is really a big thing.

And, we’re off.

Spicy Peanut Dressing:

1/3 cup natural-style crunchy (or regular) peanut butter

1/3 cup natural rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons organic sugar (or use golden brown and pack it)

1 Tablespoon Sriracha sauce

1 large garlic clove, pressed

 

Slaw:

1 medium head cabbage, thinly sliced

1/2 can pineapple in juice, juice discarded and the pieces chopped into smaller bits

2 carrots, peeled and grated

1 sliced red or yellow bell pepper thinly sliced (optional)

4 thinly sliced green onions

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 – 2 cups leftover shredded chicken (or you can do a pound of shredded rotisserie)

1/2 cup chopped roasted and salted peanuts

 

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together and season with salt to taste, if needed.

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, pineapple, carrots, red/yellow bell pepper, green onions and cilantro.  (If you’re making the whole recipe ahead, up to this point can be done 8 hours in advance.)

Add the shredded chicken and dressing to the cabbage mixture and toss to combine.  Season the slaw to taste with salt.  Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

Happy Monday and Happy 1st of October, y’all!