Napa Cabbage Picnic Salad

Oh my gosh….this recipe is fantastic! Everything in it is healthy.. but I used artificial sugar instead of regular sugar. My whole family loves this dish. I love it too. It smells so good while making it…..yummy!

My husband is of Chinese descent and I love to cook Chinese food for him. I am of French descent and I grew up eating a salad at every dinner. This delicious salad is the perfect accompaniment to any Chinese meal, and it satisfies both my husband and me. Thank you for sharing this dish! I know it will be something I make over and over again!

Concerning above– romaine lettuce is completely unlike napa cabbage. I would never substitute romaine in most recipes for napa, although this one looks like romaine would do just fine.. it is just a salad after all. Don’t expect the same results though. I think thinly shredded bok choy would be a better substitute.

Just be sure to go easy on the sesame oil – I only like a few drops – it’s soooo strong. If you just add the ingredients to the amount of your taste buds versus measurements as written here I’m sure you’ll love it! I didn’t have any radishes so I used water chesnuts instead for the crunch. Water chesnuts may be a good sub for those who don’t like the “bite” of radishes.

Whoa! DELICIOUS! I love the dressing. My salad had all sorts of stuff in it, so not quite the same as yours…I didn’t have radishes or enough green onion. To add color I used red grapes, carrot, and red onion with the cabbage.

This salad rocked! I didn’t have raddishes so substituted red pepper. It was great. Kids even liked it. I also had savoy instead of napa. Loved the dressing, used it for a pasta dish the next night b/c the dressing made so much.

This is insanely delicious! I’m not a radish fan, normally, but we get a bunch of them from a CSA we belong to– usually at the same time that the peas are ready in my garden, and the CSA is also sending green onions and napa cabbage! It’s perfect timing and lets me use up all the things that are overflowing my fridge. I could eat the whole bowl by myself.

I just made this salad for a party over the weekend and everyone loved it, raved about it and asked to me make it again for the next gathering! I used soyanaise in place of the mayo and had to use salted/smoky almonds because it was all I had on hand. I tossed the salad with the nuts and dressing right before it was served, like you suggest and it was truly delicious. Thank yo so much Elise!

I have made this salad, but, I do not add the peas or the radishes. Also, the dressing that I use is 1/2 cup of oil, 2-3 tbsp. of white vinegar, 2 tsps. of sugar and the packet of powder from the Mr. Noodle Vegetable soup mix. This is all whisked together and before I pour it on I take the dried noodles from the package and crumble them on top of the salad along with the roasted almonds and the green onions. It is yummy and an alternative dressing for those who don’t like mayonaisse based dressings.

I went to a friend’s birthday party and she had this salad out – I HAD to get the recipe, it was so good, and all the comments about this salad were very positive. It’s refreshing, crunchy, and I’m not a fan of mayo either but the dressing was creamy without being overpowering and didn’t have that “yuck” factor. Very tasty. I’m substituting ponzu sauce for the soy, and adding some chicken to make it a light refreshing yet satisfying dinner. I’ll definitely be “borrowing” this recipe for MY next get-together! I’d suggest adding some red cabbage, maybe some red onion and shredded carrot for more color and sweet crunch. I think toasting the almonds gives a nice flavor, but not really necessary. Really worth the effort.

How do you cut napa cabbage? Slice, chop, or how? Do you just pull it apart like lettuce or what? Thanks!

I think the easiest way is to slice it. ~Elise

I made this yesterday for some friends and it was a huge hit. Thanks for sharing. I didn’t really know they would react to an asian slaw but everyone, even the kids, really seemed to like it.

Excellent salad/slaw recipe. I used a daikon radish (milder) and only had sugar snap peas on hand (instead of snow peas). This salad has just moved into our Top 10 rotation. (I keep the mayo limited to 3/4 cup and use a mixture of Hellman’s Light and some form of soy mayo to reduce the fat – no one knows the difference because the other flavors pack a flavorful punch.)

This is by far THE BEST cabbage salad ever. The dressing is so flavorful! I’ve made it tons of times since you posted. And I just now spent a frantic ten minutes searching for the recipe since it is supposed to be tonights dinner and I could not find my printout this morning :>)

Excellent salad that got lots of compliment. The only thing? If you mix the dressing and the cabbage too early…it gets really soggy. This cabbage doesn’t have a lot of strength. But otherwise? Loved it.

Sally