Ginger lime coleslaw with apples and peanuts

I often hear "I'm too busy to prep meals". I get it. After a long day of work or being home with your kids, you may not be in the mood to chop a lot of food for dinner. With St. Patrick's Day coming,

I feel that it's my duty to provide a simple cabbage-based recipe. Fortunately, there's lots of healthy short cuts you can take. For example, bagged coleslaw can be used in salads, stir fries or to top tacos. It's already shredded and ready to go. Coleslaw is made up of two ingredients- cabbage and carrots. Both are a source of vitamin C as well as beta-carotene.

Cabbage also provides vitamin K, a necessary nutrient for blood clotting and bone health. Being from the same family as broccoli, it's also a source of phytochemicals, which help prevent cancer.Rather than using a super sugary slaw dressing, I like to blend up citrus juice with simple ingredients like Dijon mustard, cumin or in this case, ginger paste.

You're welcome to grate fresh ginger for this slaw if you have it on hand, but I've gotten used to the convenience and shelf life of ginger paste. You can find it at most major grocery chains like Kroger or Aldi. If you use ground ginger, you'll need half of what the recipe calls for as it's a concentrated source of ginger.

I used canola oil in the recipe, but avocado oil or corn oil would work well, too. Olive oil has a distinct taste, so I don't recommend it for this particular salad. If you don't have limes or lime juice on hand, lemon juice or even orange juice would go well in this slaw.

I add apples to mine, but if you're concerned about carbs, you could use chopped cucumbers instead.If you want to make the salad but have a nut allergy in your house, sunflower or pumpkin seed butter and sunflower seeds may be substituted for peanut butter and chopped peanuts.

Pumpkin seeds could also be used.This salad will last a two to three days in the fridge after making it. The vitamin C in the lime or other citrus juice keeps the apples from browning. Isn't food science cool?

Ingredients:

1 (14 ounce) bag coleslaw mix

1 Honey Crisp, Cosmic crisp or Fuji apple, cored and chopped

2 green onions, chopped (use green and white parts)

Juice of 1 large lime

1/3 cup canola oil

1 Tablespoon ginger paste

1 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon peanut butter1/3 cup chopped peanuts

Directions:

  1. Place the coleslaw, chopped apples and green onions in a large bowl.

  2. In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the lime juice, canola oil, ginger paste, honey and peanut butter to make a vinaigrette.

  3. Drizzle the dressing over the coleslaw mix and toss to coat.

  4. Top with chopped peanuts, toss and serve.

Makes 6 servings

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