Vitamin salad
Salat Vitaminny (салат Витаминный): Soviet canteen slaw of cabbage, carrot and apple with oil and vinegar
"Vitamin" salad was the bright spot on every Soviet stolovaya tray, scooped from a steel tray beside the cutlets and buckwheat, and it is still how many Russians start a light lunch. Fresh white cabbage, carrot and green apple are rubbed with salt and sugar, then dressed simply with sunflower oil and vinegar, so it tastes crisp, juicy and sweet-sour. It goes with almost anything hot and is a good way to use half a cabbage. A common mistake is skipping the squeeze: crushing the cabbage with salt for a minute or two softens it and draws out juice that becomes part of the dressing. Grate the apple last so it does not brown. Chef's tip: unrefined, toasted-seed sunflower oil gives the true canteen flavour; a splash goes a long way.
- Total time
- 15 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 14 oz white cabbagefinely shredded
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 carrotscoarsely grated
- 1 green applecored
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp unrefined sunflower oil
- 2 spring onions (optional)sliced
- ⅛ oz fresh dill (optional)chopped
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (5)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Put the 14 oz white cabbage in a large bowl with the ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar and squeeze it firmly with your hands for 2 minutes, until it softens and turns glossy and juicy.
2 minStep 2: Add the 2 carrots and toss through.
1 minStep 3: Grate the 1 green apple straight into the bowl, skin on, and mix at once with the 1 tbsp cider vinegar so it stays pale.
2 minStep 4: Dress with the 2 tbsp unrefined sunflower oil, add 2 spring onions and ⅛ oz fresh dill and toss. Taste, adding a pinch more salt or sugar until it is clearly sweet-sour.
2 minStep 5: Rest for 5 minutes before serving so the juices mingle. It keeps in the fridge for a day.
5 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 95 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 12 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does vitamin salad take?
- About 15 minutes in total.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of white cabbage?
- Savoy or spring greens, same weight.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Mix capsicum peanut salad
A crunchy salad of red, yellow and green peppers with roasted peanuts, cucumber, carrots and celery, dressed with lemon, dill, mint and celery leaves. Just before serving, olive oil mixed with sesame seeds is poured over the top. It's colourful, filling and full of protein.
All-way potato salad
Warm new potatoes boiled in their skins and tossed in one of three dressings: creamy parsley sour cream, a tangy basil vinaigrette, or a fresh 'greeny' dressing of cottage cheese and herbs. Each dressing is enough for 500 g of potatoes, so make one, or make all three for a party. Serve the salad chilled on a bed of lettuce with a spoonful of single cream on top.
Greek village salad
A true Greek salad has no lettuce: just ripe tomatoes, crunchy cucumber, sharp onion and olives, dressed with good olive oil and dried oregano, with a whole slab of feta on top. Salt the tomatoes first and they'll make their own dressing.




