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a simple real food recipe :: zucchini coleslaw :: dairy free option

Confession:

I have been cooped up for the last 5 months in the cold and snow…the last thing I want to do once the weather is as gorgeous as it has been, is sit in front of the stove! I’m a bit like a sun deprived, vitamin D depleted, caged animal.

I love cool coleslaw as a side dish on a warm evening – fast, nourishing, and NO cooking (HERE is my original coleslaw recipe I posted last year! It is SO yummy!).

a simple real food recipe :: zucchini coleslaw :: dairy free option

So why mess with such a good thing and make a different kind of coleslaw?!

Sometimes I just have different veggies around than cabbage so I’ve created different “coleslaw” combos.
I have little ones with molars still coming in and raw cabbage can be harder to chew – they can do it – especially my now big girl, but my 2 year old needs it cut up pretty thoroughly to get it down good 😉
My biggest reason for playing around with different coleslaw options is because raw cabbage is considered a “goitrogen”. I have thyroid issues, and goitrogenic veggies (mostly cruciferous like cabbage, broccoli, and spinach), when eaten raw, affect the thyroid in a negative way. I let myself have raw cabbage in coleslaw form a handful of times in the summer because I really love it! But I do try limiting raw cabbage as much as I can. HERE and HERE are great reads on goitrogens if you want to learn more!

Whether you have these reasons or not you are gonna want to try this out! It is delicious!

a simple real food recipe :: zucchini coleslaw :: dairy free option

Author: Renee - www.theSIMPLEmoms.com

Ingredients

4 large or 6 smaller zucchini, julienned (I have a great julienne peeler!)
½ red onion sliced thin (white onion is fine too but I love the purple color!)
1 tsp sea salt
2 carrots shredded (you could julienne this too but I have little ones that chew the shredded easier!)
½ cup full fat sour cream or homemade mayo. (If you are dairy free try coconut milk yogurt, or homemade mayo!)
1 TB lemon juice
1 TB raw honey
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp parsley flakes
⅛ cayenne pepper (optional if you don’t like the kick!)
¼ tsp pepper

Instructions

Put the julienned zucchini and the sliced onion in a strainer with the sea salt and combine. Let this mixture drain for a few minutes while you put the dressing together. The salt draws out the water in the zucchini and onions – your coleslaw will be too runny if you don’t do this 😉 This should also be enough salt to season the dish – you could add more at the end if you need it to taste.
Whisk the sour cream, lemon juice, honey, and seasonings in a small mixing bowl to make the dressing.
Use a paper towel to gently dab/squeeze out the water from the draining zucchini/onion mixture.
Put the zucchini, onion, and carrots in a serving bowl, pour the dressing over top, and combine.
Refrigerate leftovers up to a week.

Kitchen Tips:

This makes enough for a few dinners and/or lunches for us. You can double up for a large crowd/picnic, or scale it back if you only want enough for one dinner. It keeps well in the fridge for a week so I like having it around – sometimes just a good sized bowl of this is enough of a lunch for me 😉
The zucchini becomes more of a softer texture once the salt hits it – some people call them zucchini noodles! They have a “bite” to them enough when you don’t cook them that it is still a great texture for “coleslaw”.
THIS is the great julienne peeler I just LOVE 😉 I use it all the time to make fun veggie strips for the girls to munch on – it makes harder veggies small enough for easy chewing!
I just love THIS serving and storing bowl. I make the coleslaw right in the pretty glass bowl and it is perfect for bringing to a picnic or storing in the fridge because of the air tight top. Mine came with a nice travel case that you can put ice packs in too 🙂
HERE is a great dairy free mayo recipe if you are dairy free and/or don’t want to use the sour cream. When I use sour cream, I usually opt for the full fat Daisy sour cream since it is the only option where I live that doesn’t have any crazy added ingredients and uses whole milk.
Cucumbers, yellow squash, asparagus all work great for this! Give them all a try and let me know what you like the best!
Batch it up for quick packing lunches at work or school!

YOUR TURN!
Let me know what you think if you try it!

This post was shared at Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday, and Holistic Squid’s Party Wave Wednesday!

May 23, 2013 By Renee

About Renee

the real food hippie :: renee is married to her superman and mama to her 3 busy bees. she loves soaking up the sun, real butter, and julia child. her passion is helping people take baby steps to raise a real food generation in this world of highly processed food – one with healed guts, functioning minds, and solid health. she also blogs at Raising Generation Nourished. Find more of Renee on twitter pinterest and Google+.