Healthy Apple Salad Cabbage Bowls are a take on the favored Waldorf Apple salad with walnuts, raisins and served in cabbage leaf. Healthy, delicious!
Cabbage
There’s cabbage and then there’s cabbage!
In the cooler months of the year, always around holiday season, these gorgeous, oversized Savoy cabbage balls appear. I just had to showcase them!
I have never been a fan of cooked cabbage, but that’s just me.
Most folks will say that cabbage tastes even sweeter when it’s cooked.
Brussels Sprouts, which remind me of cabbage, also needed a facelift for my tastebuds.
Cabbage Made Fun
And so I created Brussels Sliders with Chili Onion Jam to make them taste fabulous!
For holiday season, I wanted to create a salad that could also look pretty on the plate.
Often a salad looks messy on the plate. I wanted this salad to have its own bowl.
Bowl? Oh yes! I will use the gorgeous oversized cabbage leaf as a bowl. It is perfect to hold the salad, adding parts of the cabbage to the salad as well.
Healthy Fun Dining
Call me old fashion but unless a dinner gathering is a picnic or outdoor BBQ I love all the frills of a fancy spread.
Fancy table settings, fancy food, even fancy attire. Why not, I’m just acting out my little girl ‘dress-up’ fun, as an adult.
Making cabbage look fun and fancy on a plate was not something I thought I could accomplish.
Then I realized how sturdy and beautiful the leaves are and would make for a whimsical ‘bowl’ on the plate.
Apple Salad
Having grown up with Waldorf salads, which is apples, nuts, raisins and usually mayonnaise, I stopped eating this because of the mayonnaise.
Eventually I discovered how easy it is to make your own Mayonnaise, which I make with Olive Oil.
Apple salad now? Unless I make my mayonnaise, I now make an apple cider vinaigrette.
Both options brought me back to making apple salads again and that was exactly what I wanted to serve inside the cabbage leaf.
Apple and Cabbage Salad Made Healthy
Why did it take me so long to realize how delicious apples and cabbage are together!
Toss in there some raisins for more sweetness, walnuts for more crunch and an apple cider vinaigrette, asplash of mustard and wow… just wow!
What To Serve With Healthy Apple Cabbage Salad Bowls
Apples are in abundance in autumn. Cabbage loves the cooler climate of autumn. With a host of special holiday gatherings that are celebrated during the months of October through the end of the year, I wanted a salad that could be menu versatile.
Of course a burger would be fabulous with apple cabbage salad in a leaf, especially if it’s a Spanakopita Burger, making both burger and salad healthy.
It could even steal the show on the plate, but I wanted other dishes that are more common during the cooler months.
Great Seasonal Dishes To Serve With Cabbage
Long story short, I created a fabulous Mac & Cheese Turkey Roll that gets wrapped in phyllo dough for the winter months.
Much like my Mac & Cheese Crab Roll that I created for Food Network, which is frequent in our home in summer.
Want something healthy and pretty on your Thanksgiving table?
If you serve family style, simply place several of these cabbage bowl salads on a platter.
Individual servings are even easier, to just put on the plate with turkey.
Speaking of turkey, a great leftover recipe for both the turkey and the Savoy cabbage leaves is Healthy Turkey Stuffed Cabbage Rolls.
How To Make Apple Salad Cabbage Bowls
Preparing the cabbage leaf, to be used as a bowl, is the first step.
These Savoy cabbage balls are large and hearty. Once the center stem and core are carefully cut out, the outer leaves come loose quickly.
The center, tighter bundled leaves, are very tender.
Be sure to chop those into bite-size chunks to go into the salad.
Raw Brussels sprouts can also be used instead of the center cut of the cabbage.
Mix the vinaigrette into a jar with a lid and set it aside. The vinaigrette has lemon juice to keep the apples from turning brown.
An added apple cider vinegar, to pair well with the apples in the salad, with olive oil and a splash of mustard to add another dimension of tang to the flavors.
In a large mixing bowl, simply mix the salad ingredients with the vinaigrette, toss and portion into the beautiful cabbage leaf bowls.
Ingredients
- Apples
- Savoy Cabbage
- Walnuts
- Raisins
- Salt & pepper
- Garlic
- Lemon juice
- Olive oil
- Apple cider vinegar
- Mustard
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Cabbage serving bowls, if you simply want precut cabbage and love this salad, these bowls are perfect!
- Small jar
- Sharp paring knife
- Mixing spoon
More Healthy Salad Dressings To Love
All things considered, a great salad dressing can make any salad taste scrumptious!
Therefore, making several delicious, even unusual, salad dressings to keep you away from store bought dressings, is something I felt important to do. Here they are.
- Fresh Strawberry Vinaigrette – with sweet strawberries, sour balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a bit of red chili flakes for a great dressing.
- Mediterranean Tahini Salad Dressing – with sesame seed paste, known as Tahini, lemons, garlic and good olive oil makes the best dressing and sauce.
- Mediterranean Lemon Salad Dressing and Marinade – with its bright lemony, olive oil and fresh herb flavor, is fast and easy to make.
- Pomegranate Sumac Vinaigrette – with Pom Molasses is a Mediterranean twist on sweet, sour, spicy and tangy flavor that is great on salads yet perfect for marinades.
Healthy Apple Salad Cabbage Bowls
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 2 Apples shredded or finely chopped
- 3 cups Cabbage shredded
- 4 Large Cabbage Leaves to serve in
- 1 cup Walnuts
- 3/4 cup Raisins
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Garlic clove
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp Mustard
Instructions
- Carefully cut the core out from the cabbage. Remove as many large leaves as possible and set aside at least 4 of the prettiest ones. If not serving right away, carefully stack the leaves and store in an airtight container.
- In a small container with a lid, mix the lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, crushed clove of garlic and mustard. Place the lid on and give a good shake. Set aside until salad is ready to mix.
- In a large mixing bowl, place the shredded apples and cabbage, along with the raisins and walnuts. Give a light toss. Shake the vinaigrette once again and drizzle across the salad while gently tossing. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Place the mixed salad evenly into each large cabbage leaf and set on a platter or individual plates being served.
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.