This delicious vegan Asian slaw is packed with flavor from the nutty ginger soy dressing. It will quickly become one of your favorite sides!
Hello friends! How is your week going?
I mentioned before that we went to the beach with family for the Labor day weekend. It’s always fun, albeit a bit challenging, to do the meal planning because you want to create that balance of having plenty of good food without putting in too much effort (you are supposed to be relaxing after all). Plus you never want to have extra food to bring back home, you know?
Some people might opt to just eat out all meals, but when you have a large group and especially lots of kids, it gets expensive, wastes precious beach time and is honestly not that fun, at least for the parents of all those kids. Ha.
So we created a general menu and all (3 families) pitched in bringing stuff, and ended up throwing together some delicious meals without much effort. One thing that I find very important is to create that meal plan before you travel somewhere. It doesn’t have to be exact, but you should have an idea if you don’t want to waste extra time while you’re on vacationing thinking about it. Luckily we were all close enough to bring food (~4 hour drive) so it made it less stressful than shopping there.
So I wanted to recap what we had and basically just wanted to remember in case of future trips.
Night one- we arrived late in the afternoon. My dad had precooked pork tenderloins and brought along a chimichurri sauce. All we had to do was warm that up and assemble a snack platter of veggies, olives, salami, cheese and crackers.
Night two- I brought along a homemade marinade for the chicken. We also packed large zip lock bags so I just had to dump the chicken in with the marinade the day before and that was ready to go. We threw the chicken on the grill, along with some sausage, Asian slaw and some asparagus. Plenty of leftovers too!
Night three- Steaks on the grill, a big ol’ salad with avocado, artichokes, tomatoes, asparagus, olives and bell peppers with a homemade dressing (also made at home and packed in a jar), roasted regular and sweet potatoes with onions (I just brought a few potatoes, one onion and olive oil) and sautéed mushrooms (all I needed to bring for this was the pre-chopped mushrooms, fresh thyme, garlic, s&p and olive oil).
That was it! It was all very doable and tasty!
So this is the slaw I made on night two. It was tasty and I was eager to make it again so I could remember exactly what I did.
Slaws are probably one of my favorite sides. When you think of slaw you think of the standard mayonnaise-based coleslaw, the one that goes so well with barbecue, but I love that you can do a variety of dressings with your shredded cabbage to change it up. I alternate between a lime based one that goes well with Mexican food, but really love this one that will go better with asian food.
This was a delicious side to go with grilled chicken, but it would be great with fish, seafood or steak too. And the leftovers were great too, although I imagine after a day or two it will get a little too soggy. If you don’t need such a large portion, just cut the recipe in half.
[Tweet “Delicious Asian Slaw- super simple + vegan via @nutritiouseats”]
- 5 cups shredded green cabbage (recommend chop your own)
- 4 cups shredded red cabbage (recommend chop your own)
- 2 cups chopped snow peas (take a pile and cut them into bite sized pieces)
- 6 green onions, sliced
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- For the Dressing:
- 6 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 Tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- ⅓ cup natural peanut butter (can sub almond butter)
- In a small bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine all the slaw ingredients (can do this ahead). Toss dressing with slaw (should have some leftover dressing).
The reason I recommend chopping your own slaw instead of the store bought is because you'll want some thicker pieces to stand up to the dressing and most store bought pre shredded cabbage is sliced so thinly that it will just wilt.
For other healthy sides check out
Asian Roasted Broccoli and Red Peppers
Sarah says
Ooh – yummy looking and healthy too! I should make more of an effort in the kitchen 🙂
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Melanie says
Thanks Sarah. It takes a little effort to put together good healthy meals, but totally worth it. 😉
Kirsten @ Treat Yourself Sweeter says
That looks fabulous! I lovvve peanut butter.. this seems like the perfect way to enjoy it 😀
Melanie says
Oh me too! It goes great in everything 🙂
Katie {mom's kitchen handbook} says
Beautifu! Looking forward to trying this. Also, l love how you managed to execute cooking for a crowd. I agree with you, too, that eating in can be so much better, especially with a bunch of kids in the mix.
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Melanie says
Thanks Katie! I love meal planning for groups. 🙂
Emily says
This looks absolutely delicious!! I am always on the hunt for something quick, healthy and delicious to make during the weekdays! I can’t wait to try this!!
xx, Emily from Something Gold, Something Blue
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Melanie says
Thanks Emily, hope you like it!
Carol Cassara says
Awfully good sounding… I’m bookmarking to make this weekend as I think hubby and i will love it.
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Melanie says
Yay, thanks Carol!
Jessica @ Nutritioulicious says
The slaw is so pretty, and of course that dressing makes it all the more delish!
Melanie says
Thank you Jessica! 🙂
Lauren says
This looks so good, I pinned for later!!
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Melanie says
Great, thanks Lauren!!
Chrissa - Physical Kitchness says
Mmmm Melanie this looks delicious! I love that each family had a hand in planning/making dinner during your vaca. Such a great idea. Can’t wait to make this slaw 🙂
Chrissa – Physical Kitchness recently posted..The Seven Healthy Meal Planning Secrets
Melanie says
Thanks Chrissa! It was a fun vacation. 😉
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
O yes please!! This would make a lovely meal with some chicken! Yum!
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Melanie says
Totally! It was a great combo 🙂
Christine | Vermilion Roots says
Ginger peanut dressing. I’d like that on anything. 🙂
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Melanie says
Me too! 😉 Thanks Christine
Brittany says
all morning I have been trying to find an Asian recipe and this is the one! I am so pinning for my next meal plan! Thanks!
Brittany recently posted..Crispy Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Melanie says
Great, so glad you found what you were looking for!
Joanie @ Zagleft says
What a beautiful salad with so many wonderful flavors. Such a great idea to plan meals ahead of time!
Emily @ Zen & Spice says
I loveeee peanut dressings. YUM!!
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Marisa | Marisa Moore Nutrition says
I love all of these flavors. Looks so pretty and delicious!!
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