Peanut Cole Slaw

I love coleslaw.  I hate coleslaw drowning in mayo, I actually hate most things drowning in mayo.  The other weekend we went to chain restaurant. GASP! The most horrible of all food atrocities.  But we live in the suburbs, options are thin.  Any how.  The fiancé ordered a side of peanut coleslaw.  Its was fucking amazing.  I don’t know why I had never thought of that.  I love vinegar coleslaw, so I feel a creative food block that I never considered other sauces….wheels spinning.    

I guess I have officially transitioned to becoming a crossfitter…I went to a 16.1 viewing party.  For those uninitiated, that means you watch the announcement of the first workout of the Crossfit Open with other people (who are in great anticipation) and then you watch super freak athletes perform it.  Yeah its weird.  But it was a food party.  I wasn’t sure what people would bring and it was going to be our dinner so I prepped a brisket the night before and decided on bringing the coleslaw as our side, largely because it can sit out and not go bad.  And I didn’t think anyone else would eat it, so I would have leftovers.  Wrong.  The bowl was scrapped clean.  The brisket was what was left over, I blame that on Chick-fil-a being on the table.  I found a recipe for a super food peanut coleslaw on Elizabeth Rider's blog, which I was not originally following but am now.  I didn’t have any red peppers on hand, they are also not my favorite so I excluded them.  I tried to just finely dice the ginger and garlic, then shake the sauce in a jar.  Well….peanut butter and raw honey take a lot of blending, so I had a giant lump of honey.  I remade the recipe this week to feed the fiancé while I am out of town for a few days and put in the Vitamix and it was about 20x easier.  I also cheated on the veggie cutting.  I am so over it.  I bought a bag of shredded cabbage, shredded carrots and bag of fresh peas.  I microwaved the peas in the bag for about 1.5 minutes so they were a bit softer.  GASP! Microwaving veggies in plastic bags (don't tell the fiancé).  I told you, I’m lazy.  She suggested adding jalapeno or hot sauce.  I couldn’t find any jalapeno’s at Trader Joe’s (if you know me you know it takes a lot for me to stop at another store other than TJ's for any ingredient) so I added a few drops of Trader Joe’s habanero hot sauce.  It was the perfect kick.  I also added a ton of peanuts.  I just like the crunch and I can’t get enough of the peanut flavor. 

Ingredients are below but a couple things that were covered in the original recipe post about why these super foods are amazing.  

• Cabbage, its crazy alkalizing and is a great super food, just often over looked as its doesn’t taste like much in its raw form (hence cole slaw).  
• The variety in the color of the veggies gets you so many different nutrients you need, hence why you should add the red pepper.  
• Cilantro actually pulls the heavy metals our of your system.  I actually extracted the heavy metals from my body, actually the awesome Mellissa McGlone did, I just sat there.  Its kind of terrifying how much metal was in me but the post detox feeling was amazing, I am probably due for another one.  
• Raw apple cider vinegar is also very alkalizing.  If you aren’t familiar with alkalizing foods versus acidic foods, a good read is this blog post.  Balancing out the ph in your body can solve a lot of digestion, heart burn and reflux issues.  
• And then there is ginger and garlic, super foods that just heal and help the whole body.

On to the ingredients.

The cole slaw ingredients:

• 1 bag or 1 head of cabbage shredded
• 1 bag of shredded carrots
• 1 bag of peas
• 6 green onions, ends trimmed off and chopped up
• About 1/2 cup of rough chopped cilantro (or in my measuring, half the bag)
• About 1 -1.5 cups of peanuts

The sauce, which I highly recommend running through a food processor or Vitamin.

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons coconut aminos (similar taste to soy sauce or tamari but we avoid soy at all possible options in our house)
• 1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar 
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seed oil
• 2 tablespoons raw (ideally local) honey.  I honestly don't understand people that actually measure this out (this is why I don't bake), I just use a spoon and scoop some out.
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter, same idea just use a spoon and eyeball it
• 1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 knob of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• Hot sauce (optional but I really liked the kick)

Putting it all together was pretty easy.  I dumped all the veggies in the super awesome giant bowl I got from one of my girlfriends for Christmas (yes I did ask exactly for that).

I fatefully tried to hand mix the dressing, lesson learned on try 1.  I dumped it on and then we (me and the puppies) were off to the gym.

I would say its also a bit more tasty if you can let the dressing set for a bit.  It was great instantly but given a little time, it absorbs into the super porous veggies.  

Update: I was all set to bring this to a birthday BBQ in a few weeks and then the hostess reminded me she is allergic to peanuts.  So I will be trying with sesame seed butter and nuts/ sesame seeds on the side.