Rainbow Fire Slaw

Simple. Spicy. Scrumptious!

A few months ago, the hubs and I were watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. They were featuring food trucks around the country and one of them was serving these yummy crab cake burgers with something called Tiger Slaw. It was like coleslaw on steroids. It had all sorts of crazy-cool ingredients like daikon, grape seed oil, lemongrass stalks, and kaffir limes. It sounded delicious but let’s be serious—who has these ingredients on hand? (I just now had to Google “daikon” to figure out what it was! It’s a white radish…who knew?)

Anyhoo, I wanted to make an easier, more normal-person-friendly version that was inspired by some of the flavors in the original dish. (Think green apple, garlic, citrus, and a little heat.) Plus, making slaw allows me to use my new favorite kitchen gadget, my julienne peeler. If you don’t have one, go out and buy one immediately. I got mine from Home Goods in a pack with two other peelers for $6 bucks and it’s the best investment I’ve made in a LONG time.

Now if you are expecting traditional coleslaw, just walk away now. Mayonnaise is my least favorite condiment so it’s not a likely ingredient in the recipes I come up with. However, if you’re in the mood for a flavorful, fun, and healthy variety of veggies in a tangy, punch-you-in-the-taste buds dressing, you won’t be disappointed. Here’s what I came up with.

Rainbow Fire Slaw
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
2 cups cabbage (red or green), shredded
2 large carrots, julienned or sliced into thin shreds
1 yellow squash, julienned or sliced into thin shreds
1 zucchini squash, julienned or sliced into thin shreds
1 green apple (I used Granny Smith), julienned or sliced into thin shreds
3 green onions, thinly sliced
3 limes, juiced (about ¼ cup of lime juice)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon Sriracha hot chili sauce

Directions:
Combine all julienned or sliced veggies and the apple in a large, preferably stainless steel, bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, minced garlic, apple cider vinegar, and chili sauce. Stir well to combine.

Pour dressing over the slaw and stir well. Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes to allow flavors to mingle.

Toss well prior to serving.

Note:
If you’re not a fan of spicy food, swap the Sriracha for sweet chili sauce. This would be good if you were planning on serving it to kids as well.

Results:
The hubs and I seriously loved this slaw. It’s tangy. It’s garlicky. It’s spicy. It’s just plain delicious. I piled a bunch on a plate and then topped it with a piece of grilled mahi-mahi and some mango salsa and it was TO DIE FOR. So many flavors dancing on my taste buds…it makes me happy just thinking about it right now.

Rainbow Fire Slaw would be great served with just about any fish or chicken dish. If you are feeling ambitious, you can make some spicy papaya salsa from scratch and top the meat/fish with that. This slaw would also be really tasty wrapped up in a tortilla fish-taco style.

My only regret was that I didn’t use red cabbage. I would have liked this slaw to be a little more “rainbow,” but I had to make do with green since it was all Trader Joes had in stock. The yellow squash and orange carrot do lend a little color to the mostly green palette, but if you can find red cabbage, please use that instead.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did. As always, I’d love to hear your feedback. Leave your thoughts in the comment section below or message me on Facebook.

Until next time,
Ryann