Healthy Asian Cabbage Salad

There are certain salads that just make eating healthy so freaking easy. This is one of those salads. With a blend of purple cabbage, shredded veggies, rice noodles and an Asian sesame dressing there's nothing boring or bland about this nutrient dense dish.  In fact, this salad is just so plain visually stunning you all asked for the recipe when I posted my dinner picture to Instagram.  And of course, I'm more than willing to oblige such a healthy and easy request. 

This salad is so appealing to me because it has lots of colors (and therefore nutrients), textures and flavors. If you feel like you're unsure about cabbage, this dressing will really help turn your opinion. Thanks to a little bit of sugar and sesame, it really balances out the sometimes bitter flavor that cruciferous veggies like cabbage can have. Thanks to the fiber and protein, this will keep you so full (without a ton of calories). 

Asian Cabbage Salad

/// Ingredients ///

• shredded purple cabbage
• grated carrots
• chopped, peeled cucumber
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• fresh mint, chopped
• green onion, chopped
• rice noodles, cut into desired strand length ( I use scissors...seriously!)
• lime wedge to garnish 
• protein of choice (this seriously works with beef/tofu/chicken/fish/shrimp etc)

Salad Dressing: Makes a full batch for several salads. Store in a jar! Whisk everything together or shake it in a lidded jar. 

• 3 T sesame oil
• 1/4 C  rice wine vinegar
• orange zest, 1/2 medium orange
• 1 T fresh orange juice
• 1 T brown sugar

/// Directions /// Add desired proportions of salad ingredients to a large bowl and drizzle with dressing. For one portion for me, I like about a 1/2 c of rice noodles to 1- 1 1/2 cups of veggies and 3 ounces of protein. Toss so everything is coated. Don't build this salad in a small dish and drizzle the dressing. TOSS IT LIKE A BOSS. Just trust me and get one extra bowl dirty.