Spicy Thai Cabbage and Fish Salad

So, it’s been a *really* long time since I’ve featured a recipe or even really mentioned food here on the blog.

Truth be told, I get a bit burned out doing a food post every single week during the CSA season.  And, with daylight being so sparse in these parts during the winter months, taking pictures of dinner proves fairly difficult for me.  Alas!  The days are getting longer and this meal was so simple and lovely that it’s sparked the itch to post about food a bit more!  Yay!

This is my take on The Nourishing Gourmet’s Thai Salad with Spicy Dressing. I love recipes that allow for Mama and Daddy to enjoy some spicy flavor while not making Abby cry at the dinner table.  Her serving was several components of this salad in small piles on her plate.  The spicy dressing was only on our “grown-up” plates.

We had left over cod from our fish tacos* earlier in the week, so that’s the protein I went with.  However, I think this recipe would be even happier with some sliced steak or chicken chunks.  Even crispy tofu would be lovely with these flavors.  And, I had a sad tomato sitting around, so I added it, but honestly, we didn’t eat it.  This is entirely the wrong time of year for tomatoes around here and it just wasn’t so tasty.  I’m thinking some chunks of mango would be amazing on this.  Go crazy and find your own riff.

Spicy Thai Cabbage and Fish Salad
Serves 2 Grown Ups with enough extra for a little kid

2 cups green cabbage, shredded
1-2 cups chopped, cooked cod**
1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
1 large carrot cut into matchsticks
1/2 cup mung bean sprouts
1/2 cup chopped cashews
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 sliced tomato (at your discretion. . . better if they’re fresh and in season)
other toppings per your palate:  mango, avocado and other yummy stuff

Arrange the cabbage on two plates.  Scatter the cooked cod on top of the cabbage. Arrange the prepared bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, and other veggies around the edge of the salad, and scatter the mung bean sprouts on top. Whisk the dressing and spoon some evenly on top.
Garnish the salad with cashews and the cilantro. Pass more dressing if desired.

Spicy Dressing
(This makes lots of dressing, so you can store it in the fridge for later use).

1/3 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup organic cold pressed sesame oil
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup tamari/soy sauce
Juice of half a lime (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons microplaned fresh or frozen ginger
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced

Shake the ingredients in a covered jar.  Keeps well in the fridge.

* Go make those fish tacos.  Um. . . YUM!  Totally makes me want to go back to Baja!

** Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything is my one stop shop on how to, well, cook everything.  Here’s a summary of how he cooks cod:
Heat a little oil in a frying pan, salt and pepper your fish, then dredge it in a little bit of flour.  Fry the fish in the pan for a total of about 10 min., flipping once.  It’ll get golden brown and be really yummy.