Red Cabbage Sprouts Coleslaw with Maple Glazed Pecans

This make-ahead Red Cabbage Sprouts Coleslaw is a great festive alternative to traditional cooked vegetables.  It contains dried cranberries, orange, a hint of ginger and comes with deliciously moreish salted maple glazed pecans for a bit of crunch.

What’s your favourite festive vegetable?  If it’s brussels sprouts then you are likely to enjoy them boiled or roasted.  If it’s red cabbage then you might make a braised red cabbage recipe and also enjoy it hot.

Would you consider serving these vegetables cold?

My Red Cabbage Sprouts Coleslaw with Maple Glazed Pecans offers a less traditional, but no less delicious, way of serving your favourite festive vegetables.  Not only that, this Christmas coleslaw recipe can be made ahead so you can concentrate on preparing your hot dishes.  Because there is enough to do when you are hosting a big family dinner!

Make-ahead red cabbage coleslaw

This mayo free easy Christmas coleslaw comes with an orange-and-ginger marinade.  Simply shred or slice the vegetables very thinly, combine with the cranberries, pour in the marinade, stir and refrigerate for 4 – 8 hours (see Final Notes below).  This will allow the vegetables to absorb all the lovely citrussy zesty flavours.  It will also tenderise them!  This is important as both the sprouts as well as the red cabbage are quite tough and can be a little chewy.  The dried cranberries will also absorb the moisture from the marinade – they will be juicy and full of flavour!

I have used this method of prepping brussels sprouts in my recipe for cured brussel sprouts with turkey leftovers.  As for the red cabbage I also used an easy marinade to make this cured red cabbage salad with pear & walnuts.  Marinating cabbage, especially the red variety, which is tougher than white cabbage, is very simple and yields great results!

How to make maple glazed salted pecans

This can also be done ahead!  But add the pecans to the salad just before serving – you don’t want soggy pecans.

The sweet and salty roasted pecans add loads of flavour to this dish and for me are essential in this recipe.  They are very easy to make.

Simply combine the pecans with 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and 1/3 teaspoon of salt, spread on a baking sheet and roast for 8 minutes.  You can scatter them over the salad (whole or roughly chopped) straight away or cool them before tossing into the salad.  If you would like to use the pecans later place in a bowl, once they’ve cooled completely and set aside.

Assembling the red cabbage salad

When you are ready to serve your festive coleslaw combine the vegetable mixture with freshly chopped cilantro and toss in the pecans.  You can add more seasoning or a drizzle of oil or lemon juice if you like.

Final notes

If you shred the vegetables I recommend marinating them for no more than 4 hours.  If they are sliced marinating them for longer (8 hours) will work better.  Give the mixture a stir once in a while.

More fantastic Christmas/Thanksgiving dishes

Try this Easy Mushroom Turkey Wellington with Chestnuts as an alternative to roasting a whole turkey.  For a vegetarian centrepiece try this Quinoa Stuffed Butternut Squash with Fruit & Chestnuts.  Both are delicious served with classic low sugar cranberry sauce as well as this cranberry beetroot chutney.

Check out also my easy vegetarian Christmas stuffing recipe.  Non-vegetarian alternatives include this Christmas stuffing casserole with cranberries & chestnuts, as well as my easy turkey stuffing balls recipe.

Your festive desserts might include these vegan dark chocolate truffles or fruit and nut cake, which is a quick and easy alternative to traditional fruit cake.

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Red Cabbage Sprouts Coleslaw with Maple Glazed Pecans

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

8 mins

Total Time

23 mins

 

This make-ahead Red Cabbage Sprouts Coleslaw is a great festive alternative to traditional cooked vegetables.  It contains dried cranberries, orange, a hint of ginger and comes with deliciously moreish salted maple glazed pecans for a bit of crunch.

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: International

Keyword: brussels sprouts, coleslaw, pecans, red cabbage

Servings: 6 people

Author: Everyday Healthy Recipes

Ingredients

• 1/2 small red cabbage, shredded or very thinly sliced, approx. 300 g
• 10 large brussels sprouts, shredded or very thinly sliced
• 1 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries
• 3-4 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped

For the marinade

• small piece of ginger, peeled, grated, approx.12 g
• juice of 1 orange
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbsp maple syrup, plus 2 more for coating the pecans
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, plus 1/3 tsp for the pecans, and a good pinch of pepper

Instructions

1. To make the marinade, combine the grated ginger with the orange juice, lemon juice, maple syrup, oil, ½ teaspoon of salt and a good pinch of pepper. In a large bowl combine the cabbage, sprouts and cranberries, pour in the marinade, stir thoroughly and refrigerate for 4-8 hours (see Notes).
2. Preheat the oven to 400 F/ 200 C/ gas mark 6. Line a medium sized baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a bowl combine the pecans with 2 tablespoons of the maple syrup and 1/3 teaspoon of salt, stir thoroughly until the pecans are completely coated in the mixture, spread on the baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 8 minutes (do not allow the pecans to brown too much). Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a minute. Then either toss into the salad or allow to cool completely and add later (you can roast the pecans the night before).
4. Serve the coleslaw with freshly chopped cilantro. Adjust the seasoning, and add more oil and/or lemon juice before serving if you like.

Recipe Notes

If you shred the vegetables I recommend marinating them for no more than 4 hours.  If they are sliced marinating them for longer (8 hours) will work better.  Give the mixture a stir once in a while.

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RECIPE LINK PARTIES

I am bringing this red cabbage salad with pecans to #CookBlogShare hosted this week by Easy Peasy Foodie.