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Mandarins make basic slaw supreme

Recipe: Mandarin cole slaw is an easy, flavorful winter salad

mandarins and dried cherries
The mandarins and dried cherries make this recipe
stand out. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Winter salads make the most of in-season vegetables. For ingredients, there are plenty of lettuces, cabbages and other leafy greens plus root vegetables galore.

But what about the juicy fruit part of a balanced salad? Tomatoes usually play that role. But in January, a good-tasting tomato can be hard to find.

Mandarins make a great salad substitute. Their easy-peel segments are just the right size and juiciness, adding texture as well as bright citrus flavor. They work well with vinaigrette in a green salad. They’re also dynamite with cabbage in cole slaw.

This slaw started with my grandmother’s cole slaw recipe, which is good on its own. The addition of mandarins really made it sparkle.

Also adding texture and bursts of flavor to this slaw are dried cherries. Raisins will work, too; cherries contribute tartness to balance the sweet mandarins.

Easy enough for any time, this salad can be made the night ahead (covered and refrigerated) and is pretty enough for special occasions. Think of it as cole slaw supreme.

Cole slaw
This easy winter salad features citrus instead of
tomatoes.

Mandarin cole slaw

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

3 large mandarins

¼ cup dried cherries or raisins

2 green onions, chopped

1 medium carrot, shredded

1 cup Romaine lettuce, shredded

2 cups cabbage, shredded

Dressing:

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

Seasoning salt and black pepper to taste

Plated salad
Pretty and nutritious, too!

Instructions:

Peel mandarins and separate segments, removing any seeds.

In a large bowl, combine mandarin segments, dried cherries or raisins, green onions, carrot, lettuce and cabbage. Toss gently.

Prepare dressing: In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, seasoning salt and pepper.

Pour dressing over mandarin-cabbage mixture. Toss to coat. Serve.

Refrigerate covered if not served immediately.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 16

Take advantage of this nice weather. There’s plenty to do as your garden starts to switch into high gear for spring growth.

* This is the last chance to spray fruit trees before their buds open. Treat peach and nectarine trees with copper-based fungicide. Spray apricot trees at bud swell to prevent brown rot. Apply horticultural oil to control scale, mites and aphids on fruit trees.

* Check soil moisture before resuming irrigation. Most likely, your soil is still pretty damp.

* Feed spring-blooming shrubs and fall-planted perennials with slow-release fertilizer. Feed mature trees and shrubs after spring growth starts.

* Transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.

* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and cauliflower – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.

* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

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