Sweet and sour, super crunchy and full of goodness, this chilled pickled cabbage is a perfect addition to any meal.

If you use locally sourced vegetables then you will know that the cabbage season is almost upon us, which makes now a perfect time to start preparing some cabbage based meals for the weeks to come.

I have discovered that cabbage is an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals including a high content of vitamin K and C, folate, iron and vitamin B6 to name just a few of the common ones. Additionally it’s a perfect weight loss food – low in calories, high in fiber and packed with necessary nutrients. Eating cabbage can help detox our bodies, lower blood pressure, regulate blood sugar; cabbage also has anti-inflammatory, probiotic and antioxidant properties; it promotes brain health and can improve our defences against neural degenerative conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

You can read more about cabbage in my earlier post “Is Cabbage a Superfood?”

Now I have you are all excited about the wonders of the amazing cabbage I want to share with you my recipe for a fridge pickled cabbage salad. The only slight problem is, it has to be made in advance, allowing it the time it needs to truly to pickle. If you like crunchy salads as an addition to your meals, you should really give it a try, I am sure you will not be disappointed.

The ingredients below will yield three 1 l jars.

Ingredients:

• 4 carrots
• 2 onions; medium
• 1 white cabbage; medium
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 large bunch of parsley
• 350ml sparkling water*
• 250ml sunflower oil
• 125ml vinegar 6% strength is best
• 150g sugar
• 1tbsp salt

*this is a must add ingredient; you can’t make it without it

Method:

Wash all vegetables, then shred or chop them julienne style into fine strips and place in a large bowl.

Add all other ingredients, including the sparkling water which is essential and mix well.

Allow standing for 5 minutes then mix well again.

Pack tightly into some clean sterilized jars (you want to get mostly veggies in there with some small addition of the liquid), then place them in the fridge.

The salad is ready for early consumption after only 3-5 days, more ideal after a week or two. The longer you leave it, however, the more pickled it will become and tastier.

The salad will keep in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Enjoy!