Pickled cabbage salad recipe

So, with the process of learning to live with out gluten and dairy, I've also ruled out oats and soy. The fun of learning what an unpredictable body likes and doesn't like...

So, one thing I found recently was a recipe for a pickled cabbage salad. Now, this gal loves cabbage, and especially pickled cabbage. I will eat it on so many things, and the idea of eating it as a salad by itself - I was drooling.

When it came time to give it a try, I decided to make it a little differently.  I've been eating a lot of southeast Asian food lately (a new Laotian restaurant opened up and I am in love), so I felt like giving the salad a bit more of an Asian-style punch.  I didn't try a bite until it had at least a day to rest in the brine, and holy moly, it is one of the best things I've ever made.  It's spicy, sweet, savory, crunchy, and chilled.  No cooking, just a fair bit of chopping and peeling.

Ingredients:

Cabbage salad:

1 large head of cabbage chopped into fine strands

½ red onion, sliced into 1-2 inch strands

4 medium carrots cut into strips either with peeler or grater (I used a combo of both)

2 jalapenos sliced (seeds included for medium-hot spice level, leave out for mild-medium spice)

Brine:

3 cups vinegar

3 cups water

2/3 cup sugar (I used slightly less)

4 tbsp finely ground salt (I used Celtic sea salt)

1 tsp celery seed

3 tbsp grated fresh ginger

10 cloves garlic, chopped

Prepare brine ingredients and stir in a medium bowl, you may need to whisk it a bit to get the sugar to dissolve properly.

Prepare veggies, and between veggies, give the brine mix a stir until it’s all dissolved.  After chopping, keep the jalapenos in a small bowl, and everything else in a large bowl. Toss the veggies (except the jalapenos) by hand in the large bowl.  If transferring to smaller containers (jars, tupperware, the skulls of your slaughtered enemies etc.), fill ½ way with cabbage/carrot/onion mix, layer in jalapenos, then fill rest with cabbage mix. Pat down the salad firmly to make it as dense as possible in your container.  I was able to compress mine by about 25%. Pour brine mix over and cover securely.  Refrigerate for at least an hour and serve chilled.  To reduce the heat, pull out the jalapenos as you come across them, or don’t.

The original post suggested that the salad would keep for up to a week, but I doubt mine will go un-consumed long enough to test that.