Crunchy Cabbage Salad is hands-down my favourite way to eat cabbage. Home-made coleslaw is pretty great too, but this is much better. With sweet and tangy sauce, crunchy noodles, crisp bean sprouts and delicious roasted nuts, this salad manages to be both decadent and still relatively healthy. For gluten free just omit the noodles (it'll still be crunchy - I promise) and for vegan use either raw cane sugar, bone-char-free brown sugar or agave nectar.

You Will Need:

Cabbage

Bean Sprouts

Ramen Noodles

Pine Nuts

Sunflower Seeds

Slivered Almonds

Brown Sugar or Honey

Garlic

Soy Sauce

Sesame Oil

Red Wine Vinegar

Salt

Step 1: Sauce & Nuts

For the sauce, which is both sweet and hot, you will need to mince or grate 2-3 cloves of garlic and combine with 3-4 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tsp red wine vinegar, a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Mix thoroughly, sample and adjust ingredients to taste.

For the nuts, combine 1 part sunflower seeds, 1 part slivered almonds and 2 parts pine nuts - with each part being between 2 tbsp and 1/3 cup depending on how many people you need to serve. The pine nuts are quite expensive but also very distinctive in both flavour and texture... It's okay to save on costs either by omitting the pine nuts or by using them exclusively and omitting the others.

In a small frying pan, lightly roast the nuts with a bit of butter (or an alternative, vegan option) until they begin to brown, then remove from heat and set aside.

Step 2: Noodles & Cabbage

Break apart your ramen noodles and crush them up into tiny bits. Do not use the flavour packet that comes with the noodles - either save this to make soup with or just toss it out.

Quarter and core your cabbage, then shred the outer leaves, slicing them into thin strips.

Step 3: Mixing the Salad

Combine the shredded cabbage, crushed noodles, roasted nuts and fresh bean sprouts. Mix together thoroughly.

You can leave the nuts out if you like and sprinkle them on top of each individual serving/bowl.

Step 4: Serve and Enjoy

You can add the sauce and toss the entire salad or leave it to drizzle onto each bowl or serving. This salad is an awesome side for any BBQ, makes a great accompaniment for stir fry and also works really well all by itself. It's very rich and flavourful but also light and refreshing. Crunchy cabbage salad is versatile and wonderfully appetizing. Try it, share it and savour it!