Cabbage and apple salad

This weekend is thanksgiving in Canada, and there are many family recipes and traditions that surround this celebration.  For one of my best friends it would not be a turkey dinner with out this salad that her mother used to make, so I asked her to write it up to share.

Gillian has asked me to be a guest blogger to feature this family favourite so here goes.

We all have some tradition that we bring to our festive meals.  My signature dish known to all who shares my turkey dinner has been this salad, which has been passed down by mother, and I believe my grandmother.  The crisp texture and fresh taste an excellent complement to the comfort flavours and soft textures of a turkey dinner.  The other bonus is that this salad is equally good for at least the next day or two.

The salad is generous portion that is perfect for the extra meals the next day.  While proportions can vary I suggest the following ingredients.

• 
  
• 1 medium green cabbage, chopped 
• 2 apples, firm varieties i.e.: granny smith, Spartan or 1 of each
• 2 stocks celery, diced
• 4 green onions, chopped
• ¼ cup Italian parsley, chopped, with some sprigs for garnish
• Optional:  ¼ cup toasted almonds and/or ¼ cup dried cranberries

Dressing

• 1 lemon
• Mayonnaise, ½ cup
•         ½ tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
• Salt, 1 tsp.
• ½ tsp. curry power
• 1 tsp. sugar

Turkey kofta

I am attempting to lose weight at the moment, this is very hard for me as I love food and I am not prepared to give up cooking, entertaining and eating out.  Therefore I have been going to the gym a little more, not something I really enjoy and trying cut down on calories.  So far 10lbs down, but 10lbs more to go. I have been eating less beef and more lean pork and chicken and trying new ways of cooking that use less olive oil and butter. This is a dish that I came up with last week that fits all the criteria and tastes good too.

Lamb kofta is something I love and make quite regularly, but ground lamb and beef for that matter are really not in the cards right now, so I tried making kofta with ground turkey.

1lb of lean ground turkey
1/2 onion chopped
1 garlic clove grated or finely chopped
2 sprigs of mint finely chopped
1 sprig of flat leaf parsley finely chopped
1 sprig of basil finely chopped
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of coriander
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

To make sure you have enough seasoning, I put a teaspoon of the mixture on a plate in the microwave for a few seconds and taste.