A Surprising Favorite

     One of my favorite things about Spring is my garden.  I usually plant at least eighteen square feet of lettuce, at least!  Once the lettuce has grown enough that it needs to be thinned the meals consisting of mostly salad begin.  We eat all kinds of salads, but then again we also tend to eat the same salad over and over again.  Yes, salad ends up being our go to meal when the schedule gets full and we are out and about all Summer.  This Spring we had snow on the ground well into May.  My lettuce did not get planted as soon as I would have liked.  This left me needing meal ideas.  Enter cabbage.

     While waiting for the lettuce to grow in I discovered the many advantages to using cabbage.  It is one of the cheapest vegetables you can buy.  It is on the clean fifteen list, so I do not have to buy it organic.  I also do not have to spend an a lot of time rinsing each leaf; simply peel off the outer leaves that need to go, and you are ready to shred.  Lastly, it is so crunchy.  I love how crunchy it is.

     It surprised me how much I liked Cabbage Salad (that is what we have named it).  I made it for a potluck today.  It was quick, easy, I had all the ingredients and it handles well (heat and traveling).  At the meal tonight a friend of mine told my daughter that she really liked it.  I was so glad to hear it because it almost seemed too easy, but it is a favorite of mine.  So, here is the recipe:

Cabbage Salad

Things you will need:
1 medium sized head of cabbage, shredded
6 large carrots, peeled and shredded
1 large onion, diced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup white vinegar
salt to taste

Directions:
Toss all of ingredients together in a large bowl.  Serve.

     SEE!  Easy!  And if you really want a treat you can add 1/3 cup of honey to it as well, and then you have Coleslaw!  I usually make coleslaw from the left overs.  To make this recipe a complete meal sometimes I add sliced hard boiled eggs on top.  I also make egg salad to go with it sometimes, or we have even put cold shredded chicken on top.  No matter how I add to it, it always turns out yummy.

UPDATE: Here is a link to the "clean 15" and "dirty dozen".
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/the-dirty-dozen-and-clean-15-of-produce/616/