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I’ve craved this specific salad all month and finally caved.
I know we’re supposed to be baking cookies — and I have; so many cookies, I am basically 45% butter and 15% sprinkles by now — and mixing fancy cocktails, and hosting luxurious dinner parties (we, instead, host a Latke-Vodka Party more here). But the body wants what the body wants and this one wanted very cold, just slightly tart mandarin orange segments, salty-spicy-sweet roasted cashews, and a very crunchy red cabbage salad threaded with fennel, scallions, and a hint of fresh mint with a sumac-specked vinaigrette and it was consistent, persistent, nagging even about it, until I acceded. I then ate a bowl standing up in the kitchen in a way I haven’t since I first fell in love with broccoli slaw. In total transparency, I’m probably going to do it again in about 5 minutes.
Should you — not me, clearly — be willing to share, it goes phenomenally well with everything else that might be on your holiday table, from latkes to a hearty braise. I’d also enjoy it as a brunch salad. Or maybe it will be something you make for just you in a season where so much of our time and energy is (joyfully!) in the service of others, something weird you do — standing in the kitchen eating salad, watching everyone hurry by, buzzing with the inner joy the only comes with having no reason to budge to for 10 minutes.
Winter Cabbage Salad with Mandarins and Cashews
- 1 cup (115 grams) cashews
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) dark brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 pound (455 grams) red cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded (about 4 cups)
- 1 small or half a large fennel bulb, halved and sliced thin (about 1 cup)
- 3 regular or 4 thin scallions, thinly sliced (green and white parts)
- A small handful fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced
- 3 mandarins (clementines and other small oranges work here), divided
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sumac, plus more for finished
- Spiced cashews (from above)
Spiced cashews
Assembly
Make the spiced cashews: Heat your oven to 400°F. Place the cashews in a colander and rinse them with water, but no need to shake them off. (This gets them the perfect amount of wet for the spices to stick.) Transfer to a bowl, add the sugar, salt, cayenne, and paprika and stir so that it’s evenly coated. If the mixture seems a little dry, add 1 more teaspoon of water. Spread the cashews out on a small, parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 8 to 10 minutes, until the nuts are darker and I actually like them with some black spots, so I’ll put them in for up to another 3 to 5 minutes, just watch carefully so that they don’t completely burn. Let the nuts cool completely on the tray. [I stick them outside and let the winter air take care of it.]
Assemble the salad: Combine cabbage, fennel, scallions, and mint in a large bowl. Juice one of your mandarins and pour 2 tablespoons of the juice into a small bowl. (Any extra should be thrown back like an immunity booster shot.) Add white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, many grinds of black pepper, and sumac and whisk to combine. Pour over cabbage mixture and taste, adding more seasoning as needed. If you’re making the salad ahead of time, you can keep this mixture marinating for a couple hours; it won’t go to mush.
Peel your remaining two mandarins and separate them into segments. Pile half of your dressed salad mixture on a serving plate, sprinkle with half the mandarin and half of the cashews. It will seem like a lot of cashews but they’re really the star of the show here. Repeat with remaining salad, mandarin, and cashews and dig in.
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