Recipe: Sneaky Slaw

Ok, this photo is not going into the Food Styling Hall of Fame. The truth is that I started eating my dinner before I thought to take a picture, so what you see is my meal after a few bites. The ravioli came from the Whole Foods Deli (I'd love to tell you the ingredients of their "Vegan Ravioli" but the label said nothing more than "Vegetable Feature #1").

The slaw, though, I made myself. Now, if you have time and don't make a major mess in your kitchen when you try to deal with a head of cabbage, go ahead and buy a whole cabbage and chop up the sucker (or feed it to your food processor). I took advantage of the Lazy Food at Whole Foods -- this time, an actual plastic container (which I recycled) of chopped red cabbage.

Why cabbage? Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable like broccoli. It is overflowing with beneficial phytochemicals that have been linked to cancer prevention, heart health, thyroid health, and ulcer prevention. It is protective against several types of cancer, but what I find most interesting is its effect on breast cancer prevention. Indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a compound in cabbage, appears to play a role in hormone regulation: it seems to decrease harmful estrogens while increasing good estrogens.

Yet another reason to eat your veggies, and more of them.

Here's the recipe, more or less. Everyone loved it.

• 4 cups or so of shredded red/purple cabbage
• 1 green onion, sliced thinly
• a handful of fresh parsley, rinsed well and chopped

Dressing:

• apple cider vinegar
• canola oil
• agave nectar

Toss the veggies. In a separate bowl, add a little of this and a little of that until you get a yummy balance of oil, vinegar, and sweet. You might want to add a bit of water too.

As always, this recipe is adaptable. Throw in some shredded zucchini, finely chopped celery, shredded carrots, chunks of apples, whatever! Had my nut-allergic son not been joining us, I would have added in a handful of sliced almonds too.