Thai-Style Spicy Cabbage Slaw with Mint and Cilantro

Even in the winter when you have to buy the mint, this Thai-Style Cabbage Slaw is worth the splurge! And this tasty cabbage salad with Thai flavors is low-carb, meatless, and South Beach Diet friendly, and if you use gluten-free fish sauce it can easily be gluten-free.

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Mint is something I have in abundance in the summer, and it’s so prolific that I’m glad I have a garden bed divided into thirds so the mint is contained.  Maybe it’s because I have so much free mint in the summer, but I have a hard time buying mint at the grocery store, and I saved this recipe for Thai-Style Cabbage Slaw with Mint and Cilantro months ago, thinking I would try it in the summer when I had mint begging to be used. Then every time I looked through recipes I had saved, this one was calling to me, until finally I paid a ridiculous price for mint at the store and tried it.

This was another of those recipes where Jake and I were absolutely raving the entire time we devoured four servings of this (and we had eaten lunch about 30 minutes earlier!) If you like Thai flavors, I’m guessing this salad might become one of your year-round favorites, even if you have to remember to buy mint!

When I’m trying to eat lower carbs than usual, cabbage salads are one of my favorite things to eat. Maybe it’s my personal variation of the cabbage soup diet, but I can eat raw cabbage over and over without getting tired of it. If you’re looking for low-carb or Phase One recipes that won’t make you feel deprived, I highly recommend this salad, and look after the recipe for some of my other salad favorites.

The dressing for this salad had just lime juice, fish sauce, sweetener (I used granulated Stevia), and red chile flakes.

You can use either color of finely-shredded cabbage, but we made a mix with more red than green, which made the salad pretty.

Toss the red and green cabbage together with the dressing.  Then let it sit for 10-15 minutes, or at least as long as it takes you to chop the other ingredients.

While the salad marinates prepare the chopped mint, chopped cilantro, and thinly-sliced green onions.

We increased the amount of peanuts, which didn’t seem too extravagant, since the rest of the salad was so low in calories.

After the cabbage has marinated for 10-15 minutes, stir in the green onion, chopped mint, chopped cilantro, and most of the peanuts, saving a few peanuts to sprinkle on each serving.  Serve right away.

Thai-Style Spicy Cabbage Slaw with Mint and Cilantro
(Makes about 4 servings, but recipe can easily be doubled; adapted slightly from Thai-Style Cabbage Slaw in Sunset Magazine Easy Party Food.  (I could not find the recipe online.)

Dressing Ingredients:
1 1/2 T lime juice
1 T fish sauce (I like Red Boat Fish Sauce or Three Crabs Fish Sauce)
2 tsp. Splenda, granulated Stevia, or sugar (use Splenda or Stevia for South Beach Diet)
1/4 – 1/2 tsp. dried red chile flakes

Ingredients:
3-4 cups thinly sliced and chopped red and/or green cabbage (we used more red than green, which made a pretty salad)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup chopped mint leaves
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup chopped salted peanuts (or more)

Instructions:
Stir together the lime juice, fish sauce, sweetener of your choice, and red chili flakes to make the dressing.  (You might start with the smaller amount of chile flakes and taste on your finger to see if you want more heat.)

Thinly slice and chop enough red and green cabbage to make 3-4 cups of sliced cabbage.  Put the cabbage in medium-sized bowl and toss with the dressing.  Let the cabbage marinate while you prepare the other ingredients.

Slice the green onions.  Wash and spin dry the mint leaves and cilantro, using a salad spinner or drying with paper towels, then chop enough to make 1/2 cup each chopped mint and cilantro.  Coarsely chop peanuts with a chef’s knife.

Add the green onion, chopped mint, chopped cilantro, and most of the peanuts to the cabbage and toss to combine.  Serve right away, sprinkling a few peanuts on each serving of salad.

We ate this all so I didn’t get to see how it would keep in the fridge, but I am guessing it would be best freshly made.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Cabbage is a wonderful low-glycemic ingredient, and as long as you use Splenda or Stevia in the dressing, everything in this salad is approved for any phase of the South Beach Diet and other low-carb diet plans.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Nutritional Information?
If you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into this nutrition analyzer, which will calculate it for you. Or if you’re a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.

More Low-Carb Cabbage Salads Kalyn is Crazy About:
Spicy Lime Coleslaw
Spicy Cilantro-Peanut Slaw
Spicy Mexican Slaw with Lime and Cilantro
Napa Cabbage and Red Cabbage Salad with Fresh Herbs and Peanuts
Spicy Cabbage Salad with Tomatoes, Radishes, and Celery (Puerto Rican Cabbage Salad)

Cabbage Salads from Other Blogs:
Ottolenghi’s Cabbage and Kohlrabi Salad from The Taste Space
Red Cabbage Salad with Walnuts, Raisins, Feta, and Warm Mustard Dressing from The Perfect Pantry
Coleslaw with Wasabi Dressing from David Lebovitz
Asian Cabbage Salad from Andrea Meyers