How to Make Healthy Coleslaw Your Family Will Love

Coleslaw with garbanzo beans, poppy seeds, and lemon juice (Cat Rooney/The Epoch Times)

The cookbook “Simply Vegetarian” has a recipe for coleslaw that my family loves. It is easy to make, creamy, and the inclusion of poppy seeds and lemon juice gives a slight exotic, modern taste.

I like to add organic canned garbanzo beans to the recipe for a hardier, grounded taste while transforming this coleslaw into a protein source.

It never fails that my husband, days after the coleslaw is gone, will say out of the blue while eating, “I have been wondering why we don’t have that coleslaw more often?”

I have to admit I think of coleslaw as a summer dish. Yet the benefits of cabbage makes me want to break beyond this notion and have it more often, as my husband suggests.

Coleslaw might be better named beneficial slaw, since raw cabbage is such a good source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and glucosinolates (sulfur-containing compounds). The latter two contain anti-cancer properties.

According to the Linus Pauling Institute, diets rich in cruciferous vegetables are associated with lower risk of several types of cancer. Cabbage is also a good source of fibre and an intestine detoxifier.

This coleslaw recipe calls for a medium cabbage. Any leftover cabbage can be used in a multitude of future meals—a simple vegetable soup, boiled or baked with seasonings, or used in a stir fry.

Coleslaw
Preparation time: 10-15 minutes
Chilling time: several hours for flavours to blend

Mix together:

1 L (4 cups) grated or shredded green cabbage
1 medium carrot, grated
125 mL (1/2 cup) mayonnaise
25 mL (2 tbsp) lemon juice
15 mL (1 tbsp) poppy seeds
Scant tablespoon grated onion
2 mL (1/2 tsp) salt
5 mL (1/8 tsp) black pepper
15 mL (1 tbsp) honey, (optional) do not substitute with Agave

Variation:
Add 125 mL (1/2 cup) finely chopped green peppers

I recommend keeping the honey in the recipe and adding a can of organic garbanzo beans. Non-organic canned garbanzos do not have the same effect as they differ in taste and texture.

Recipe courtesy of “Simply Vegetarian,” edited by Nancy Mair and Susan Rinzler, Crystal Clarity Publishers