Share Goodness Recipe: Kale, Cabbage & Fennel Salad

Did you ever wonder: What did your great, great grandmother do for salad dressing… before? Here is my version of a classic salad dressing from the late 1800s, before vegetable oils became available in 1911. Perhaps this recipe will help to allay your fears about traditional saturated fats, such as cream, butter, and eggs—all healthy foods that do not cause cell membrane disruption like vegetable oils do. The marriage of two brassica vegetables along with the fresh, bright sweetness and crunch of fennel makes this a perfect accompaniment to any meal.

Cabbage, Kale, and Fennel Salad

Serves 6 to 8

• 4 cups cabbage, finely chopped
• 2 ¼ cups kale leaves, stripped from the stems
• and finely chopped
• ½ cup fennel
• 6 tbsp. pumpkin seeds, toasted
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds, toasted
• 3 tbsp. dried cranberries, apple juice sweetened

Honey Dijon Cream Salad Dressing

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. raw honey
• 1 tsp. unrefined salt
• 1½ tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 egg, well beaten
• ¾  cup 35% whipping cream
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar

Nutrition Tip

Dried cranberries can be very heavily sweetened, so choose carefully. One brand was found to contain 68% added sugar! I like to use organic cranberries lightly sweetened with apple juice: enough sweetness to enhance, but not overpower, their flavour or their goodness.

Preparation Tip

I like to use this dressing on canned tuna or salmon to make a quick meal. Combine cabbage and kale in a medium salad bowl. Slice the fennel bulb into thin slices, stack them, and dice them into ¼ inch pieces. You may also include a little of the feathery stems, chopped finely. Toast the pumpkin and sunflower seeds in a dry pan over medium heat. Add to the salad bowl, along with the dried cranberries.

Dress with about ½ cup of Honey Dijon Cream Salad Dressing. If you are not using the whole salad at one time, it’s best to dress the part of the salad you will use, and freshly dress the remaining salad when you are ready to eat it.

Dressing Instructions

Melt the butter and honey together over a double boiler— just until melted enough to combine.

Remove the top pan from the heat to cool slightly, but keep the burner and bottom pan on. Stir in the salt and mustard. Add the egg and the cream, whisking until smooth. Very slowly add the vinegar, whisking well to combine so it does not curdle.

Return the pan to the heat by placing it over the hot water once again, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly until it thickens. Chill.

Dress your salad, and store the remaining dressing in the refrigerator.

This recipe is from Goodness Me! founder Janet Jacks' new book  Share Goodness. Find it in-store or online and share goodness with your family!