Summer color and flavor are bursting at the seams in this Crunchy Confetti Slaw with Strawberry-Peach Balsamic Dressing. It’s a simple to make salad that is a perfect side dish recipe for dining al fresco or adding some sunny color to a meal in the colder months.
I like pretty things. Maybe not what you’d consider traditional ‘pretty things’ but really I like color. And texture. And diversity. Maybe it’s the sign of a short attention span. Or because I’m a Gemini.
When thinking of a recipe to celebrate summer (that could be tucked into school lunchboxes too), I wanted to incorporate all these things; color, texture and diversity. I wanted that first glance to be exciting. And happy-making.
The concept of ‘eating the rainbow’ leapt to mind. Despite possibly sounding like the objective of a 1960’s acid trip, eating the rainbow is the nouveau goal of consuming foods of all colors in a day. Each color group of produce bears different nutrients and eating all of them affords positive variability in one’s diet.
But there is no reason a healthy recipe needs to take a long time to make and cannot still be fun. In steps Crunchy Confetti Slaw with Strawberry-Peach Balsamic Dressing.
Both my children have always taken lunch to school due to our inability to eat gluten but the younger loved ‘Rainbow Day’ in elementary school. On Rainbow Day, all the students eat for free from the school cafeteria salad bar, getting a sticker if they eat foods of all the colors of the rainbow. Somehow making it a goal and involving the sticker gets kids very excited about eating produce that may normally cause noses to be turned up.
Crunchy Confetti Slaw with Strawberry-Peach Balsamic Dressing brings Rainbow Day to your dinner table. I simply love this slaw recipe. It’s made quickly and simply with the aid of a food processor, dressed in a way that will add more nutrition as well as taste-appeal while using as many of the rainbow colors possible.
Adding the fruit to a simple balsamic vinegar dressing, sweetened by honey, keeps the slaw fresh and the flavors familiar though unexpected in this dish. The sunflower seeds give it a crunch I love. With honey being a natural preservative as well as the vinegar, the dressing will remain fresh in the refrigerator for three weeks able to use it on lettuce and fruit salads too.
A secret to keep the maximum crunch is to dress the slaw just before serving. It will soak into the slaw so the longer it sits the less the crunch (though it’s still delish). If sending it to school or taking it to work, pack a serving of the dressing separately to be drizzled on at the last minute! (This portable salad container works fantastically for that!)
And I think it’s very pretty. Don’t you?
Crunchy Confetti Slaw with Strawberry-Peach Balsamic Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ small head Green Cabbage
- ½ small head Purple Cabbage
- 2 large Carrots , trimmed and scrubbed
- 2 cups Strawberries , hulled
- 2 small-medium Peaches , peeled and pitted
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- ¼ cup Safflower or other vegetable oil (NOT Olive Oil)
- ¼ cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 cup raw Sunflower Seeds (shelled and unsalted)
Instructions
- Using the grating disk in a food processor, grate the green cabbage, purple cabbage and carrots. Transfer them into a large serving bowl and set aside.
- In a blender combine the strawberries, peaches, honey, oil and balsamic vinegar. Pulse until it liquefies into a dressing.
- Toss the amount of desired dressing into the slaw. Add 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds on top of each serving.
This delicious recipe was originally published in September 2012 and has been updated in 2016. It was included in the Family Flavors eCookbook; a collection of healthy, quick-to-make recipe each with 10 ingredients or less.
Claire says
I love slaw of all sorts. This recipe comes just in time to catch the last of summers fruits. – Claire
Toni | Boulder Locavore says
I feel the same Claire. As I write it’s pouring and looks like London outside. That surely must be the signal fall has arrived, right?!
thepantryraider says
This sounds amazing! I’m going to have to try this out!
Also, congrats on the cookbook!
Cardamom Hills says
The slaw looks so refreshing…with sweet and sour combination…how can one go wrong!…. I would prefer toasted sunflowers seeds though 🙂 they are too chewy when raw….
Kitchen Riffs says
Gosh, I’m a real sucker for color and texture too. And this is a great recipe to showcase both. Lovely combo of flavors – I’m not sure if I’ve seen exactly this combo before, and it sounds like it really works. Definitely something I’ll be keeping in mind. Thanks so much.
Viviane Bauquet Farre says
Toni, I just love the vivid and playful colors in this slaw. It’s certainly earned its moniker “confetti”.
As always, beautiful and delicious work!
Roxana | Roxana's Home Baking says
Such a beautiful slaw Toni. I love the purple cabbage more than the green one and buy it almost every time I see it at the store.
I love the sunflower seeds sprinkled on top.
Toni | Boulder Locavore says
Hi MJ. Funny you say that about the sunflower seeds. I actually bought each raw and Tamari seeds. I was not sure if the raw seeds would stand up flavor-wise. They won hands down (though the other seeds were also devoured without slaw!). They were not chewy at all. I keep mine in the freezer so they stay fresh as well as it’s very dry here so maybe that helps! Thanks for visiting!
Maureen @ Wisconsin Mommy says
I love colorful foods! This looks like it would dress up any table. Can’t wait to try it 🙂
Lindsey Paris says
what a beautiful slaw! I’d like to have this on a burger, too.
Toni Dash says
Oooo…that’s a great idea! Yum!
Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle says
Oh yum! I love a recipe that’s as tasty as it is healthy! I can’t wait to give this a try. Thanks!
Pam says
This sounds like a really yummy twist on traditional coleslaw. The strawberry peach balsamic dressing sounds like a great touch.
Chavonne Harvey says
Strawberry Peach Balsamic dressing over cabbage with sunflower seeds? Oh my! I can’t even begin to imagine how good this must taste and so healthy too.
Theresa says
This does sound so heavenly! I love the rainbow of colors. I have never made my own slaw before, but it’s definitely something I want to try before summer ends. This is the perfect recipe to start with!
Brandy says
That sounds delicious! I’ve would love to try it sometime!
Amanda Love says
I love the idea of having a rainbow day at school and at home. It will definitely keep the kids excited for sure! I think this is a lovely recipe and it’s a great way to put fresh produce into good use!
Chef Dennis says
Now that’s a beautiful and delicious slaw! I can’t wait to try it, especially the dressing.
Jeanine says
Oh this looks so good. I love texture when it comes to my foods, especially new foods so this is something I’d love to try out! It looks like it has some lovely texture!
Toni Dash says
Something about having a nice crunch really makes it appealing too!
Brianne says
This dish looks so light and refreshing, like the perfect summer dish! I am definitely making this for our labor day party!
Toni Dash says
I was thinking the same thing for our Labor Day picnic!
Nikki Wayne says
Wow, I love slaw! I haven’t tried that kind of dressing. I love the colors and I want to try it!
Susan says
You’ve outdone yourself with this one, Toni. I tried a simple slaw to go with a purchased rotisserie chicken, and it was a flop with both me and my husband. This one, however, would definitely work well. It has also occurred to me that I could use frozen fruit in place of fresh, if need be. It is very difficult to get good peaches in my area. Frozen fruit would also allow me to make this slaw any time I was craving those flavors.
Kita Bryant says
What a gorgeous salad! It has so many bright colors and would be perfect with a plethora of meals! Love it!
Rosey says
Wow, there’s a lot going on there. I’d love to try it. I’d love to serve it to the family today too, but I don’t think it’s going to happen (too much going on). Maybe next time!
Ann Bacciaglia says
I can not wait to make this. It looks so delicious and easy to make. I am sure it will be a big hit.
Margot C says
I’m going to assume that you put the oil in the blender too. This looks marvelous. I’m making it, TODAY!
Toni Dash says
Yep! Just follow Step 2 in the instructions and place all 5 ingredients listed there (the oil is one) into the blender and pulse it to make the dressing! Hope you’ll love it.
Tonya says
This looks delicious and refreshing. I’m always on the lookout for new salad recipes. We try to eat a slaw or salad with nearly every meal.
James L. Abney says
They look great, You make me hungry.
Thanks for nice post.
Hung Pham Viet says
Wow, such a amazing article.
Look very delicious.
I love this .