Fruit Salad Slaw (not as weird as it sounds)

The Grill-Meister isn’t a big fan of most vegetables, but I’m on a lifelong mission to pull him over to the bright side.  One way I’ve been successful in this mission over the past few years has been with slaws.  I can throw together a quick slaw as a side dish, and he’ll usually eat it without grumbling (much).  But he came to love, love, love slaws after having the Mango Coleslaw at Peli Peli, an upscale Houston-area eatery that serves South African food with a twist. The twist being…”fusion”, including the use of marinades and spices that have Dutch, Asian and Portuguese roots, alongside big American meats and seafood. It works! I could go on and on about Peli Peli, one of my favorite restaurants, but this isn’t a restaurant review post, it’s a recipe post.

One of the best things about Peli Peli is that it moved the Grill-Meister from slaw-tolerant to slaw-loving. Adding those dried mangoes did it.

Of course, now that he is a slaw connoisseur, the Grill-Meister gets a little more involved in the slaw assembly, or would that be slaw-sembly? After tasting my latest, in which I dutifully added dried fruit and a little fresh fruit, too, he frowned, paused thoughtfully, and said, “Pretty good. Would be awesome if you added toasted pecans.”

So I did. And he was right. The recipe is below. I decided to call it Fruit Salad Slaw, because without a few of the ingredients, it would be a lovely fruit salad.

Ingredients

Salad

• 6 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 cup chopped dried fruit (see notes below)
• 1 cup chopped tart green apple, cored and seeded but not peeled
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans (click here for instructions)

Dressing

• 1/4 cup orange juice (fresh if possible)
• 2 tbsp high quality extra virgin olive oil (plain is ok, but if you have fruit-infused oil, it will be even better)
• 2 tbsp high-quality balsamic vinegar (white balsamic would be prettier)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dijon mustard

Cooking Instructions

Combine the slaw ingredients in a medium serving bowl and stir to distribute.  Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl, then pour over the slaw ingredients, tossing to combine well.

We served the Fruit Salad Slaw alongside Blackened Tilapia, and it was a perfect complement for the crisp, spicy fish. The other side is halved grape tomatoes, halved fresh mozzarella (cherry sized) and green onions, drizzled with balsamic vinegar. I usually serve them as an appetizer.

Notes (Lots of Notes)

You’ll see in the quick pic above of the finished product that the balsamic vinegar – which tasted wonderful – gave the slaw a bit of a dingy look. I’m going to invest in a good-quality white balsamic this Saturday during my farmers market run and make it again.

Also, I had on had some blood orange-infused olive oil, and it really jazzed up the dressing. The Fruit Salad Slaw would still be good without it, but you might want to grate a bit of orange zest on it if you are using plain olive oil.

The dried fruit I used is from HEB (a wonderful grocer in Texas), and it is just “mixed dried fruit”, the mix being apricots, prunes, apples, peaches and pears. You could use any combination, or just one. Interestingly, the Grill-Meister didn’t notice that this mixture doesn’t include dried mangos, like his beloved Peli-Peli slaw.  

Resources

• Blackened Tilapia Recipe (Paul Prudhomme’s Blackened Redfish)
• Review: A Hidden Houston Gem: Peli Peli Modern South African Cuisine in Vintage Park
• Another slaw recipe: Pepper Jelly Slaw (you know we love the slaws here at Glover Gardens)

Copyright 2017, Glover Gardens Cookbook