Ukrainian Cabbage Salad

Come warm days, I crave vegetable salads more than anything else. The lighter the salad, the better. Although, at times I don’t  mind going for substantial and filling ones. This is a classic Ukrainian salad, very light and healthy. You can serve it as a start-up salad or as a side dish to meats. Enjoy! Ahem..Let met try it in Ukrainian now – Smachnoho!

Ukrainian Cabbage Salad
Barely adapted from “Culinaria: Russian, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan”

Note: Traditionally, this salad is garnished with either lingonberries or cranberries. Once, I’ve tried it with fresh cranberries and chopped coarsely, and it worked great. Another time, I’ve added barberries, like in the picture above. It was good, too. Dried cranberries or sour cherries would work as well. The goal is to add a pleasant tang to the salad, and sour berries do the job nicely. Plus, they make for an eye-catching presentation. Use whichever berry is in season.

Serves about 4

Ingredients

Small cabbage head, about 1 pound, shredded
1 tablespoon salt
1 medium apple, peeled and cut into matchstick strips
3-4 tablespoons chopped green onion – green parts only
Olive oil to taste (traditionally, sunflower oil is used)
Freshly squeezed juice of lemon, to taste
Salt
Ground black pepper
Sugar to taste (optional)
Tablespoonful of sour berries, such as cranberries, fresh or dried, lingonberries, or dried barberries or sour cherries) – for garnish

Directions

Place the cabbage in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt. Mix, squeezing with your hands to soften, about a minute. Leave aside for 15 minutes, to allow the juices to extract.

Squeeze the cabbage with your hands to remove as much moisture as possible. Try not to mash them. They should be tender but should still hold their shape.  Place the cabbage back in the bowl.

Add the apple and green onions. Add the olive oil, lemon juice to taste. Season with salt if needed (the cabbage may still have some salt, so don’t over-salt), and black pepper to taste. Sprinkle with a little sugar, if you wish (optional). Toss to combine.

Transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with berries of your choice.

23 Comments

Leave a Reply

  1. A wonderful salad!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  2. This looks amazing! I agree, salads like this are so refreshing!

  3. Oh this looks so good! So light, and fresh.. I will definitely make this soon. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂

  4. I like the addition of berries…

  5. Salam Farida! How are you doing?
    love the cabbage salad and the bowl you served it.. 🙂

  6. Salam….cabbage salad is a real winner..where can we get serving dishes like the one in your picture…Jim

  7. Salad looks amazing, yumm!

  8. Thank you for all your comments!

    JIM: I bought this serving plate at Ross. I think I paid around $3 for it.

  9. Lovely salad.

  10. Light and very summery.. love it I have cabbage and cranberries..will try this weekend..

  11. A perfect summer lunch! I don’t think I can find those berries in Turkey, but maybe I can use cherries instead. They are in their season now.

  12. Such apretty slaw and beautiful serving plate.

  13. Bookmarked! I actually have some barberries I brought back from my travels! 🙂

  14. Wonderful salad!

    Big kisses

  15. I’ve just tried it and it was a wonderful lunch! Thanks for sharing…

  16. Looks very yamyyyy!

    Vika

  17. I just can’t get enough of it… 🙂

  18. Mmmmmmmm!!!! I love cabbage salads, and this looks AWESOME!!! I can’t wait to try it!! 🙂

  19. That looks wonderful!!! I love cabbage salads with fruit!! 🙂

  20. Yes, this is a very tasty salad! I, as a Ukrainian, I can confirm this!

  21. Yep, really classical salad in Ukraine, tasty and fresh 🙂
    BUT! In ukrainian, you say “smachnogo!” and not “pryemnogo apetytu”, which is word-to-word translated russian phrase;)

  22. Ukranian food is awesome.But it gets old after awhile,especially when you live in Russia and eat? it all the time.

  23. great salad i’ll this soon

Leave a Reply