Cabbage and I are really good friends. Purple or green, cooked or raw, which kind anyway? None of that matters to me. I love it all. I also happen to adore salads, and when you combine my love of salads with some cabbage in the fridge, very often that means slaw. Since I’m currently doing a Whole 30, I’m not using any added sugar. I’ve noticed that I have a tendency right now to add fruit to my dishes so that I get a little sweet hit. I could worry about this, but I’m not going to. At least not for now. If my sweet tooth is getting satisfied by a SLAW, I think I’m okay.

It’s tropical because of the pineapple and coconut, Asian because of the sesame oil, coconut aminos and fish sauce…in any case, the fusion just works!

Tropical Asian Slaw

Coconut

1/4 cup coconut flakes

pinch of Chinese five spice

pinch of salt

Slaw

3 cups of shredded cabbage

1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

2 Tbsp. chopped mint

2 scallions, thinly sliced

2 tsp. sliced almonds, toasted

1/4 tsp. salt

Dressing

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1/2 Tbsp. lime juice (about 1/4 of a lime)

1 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. coconut aminos (flavor similar to soy sauce)

1/4 tsp. fish sauce (Red Boat is paleo and Whole 30 approved, plus it tastes so much better!)

Directions

1) Coconut flakes Put coconut flakes in a cold pan and heat to medium. Watch and stir the coconut flakes until they are toasted to your liking. It takes about 10 minutes, but stay close because once they start to brown, it goes really fast. Remove them from the heat and toss with salt and five spice powder. (These were inspired by Melissa Joulwan’s original Well Fed cookbook.)

2) Dressing In a small bowl, mix together all the dressing ingredients and set aside.

3) Slaw Place the slaw ingredients in a big bowl and toss with the dressing. Let sit for about 10 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Top with toasted coconut flakes when ready to eat so they stay crunchy.

Serves 1-2