Perfect Slaw and a Surprisingly Delicious Vegan”Pork” Chow Mein

James has been making this slaw for years and it’s absolutely perfect to pile on a vegan pulled-“pork” sandwich, but I just realized that I’ve never posted it here on the Sideways Cottage blog, so here we go!

It’s adapted from a Chez Piggy cookbook recipe called “Green Cabbage Salad” but in this iteration contains no green pepper, less oil and less brown sugar.

In case you’re wondering, Chez Piggy is a restaurant in Kingston, Ontario, that was first established in 1979 by Zal Yanovsky and Rose Richardson. Zal Yanovsky was a well-known Canadian folk singer and for several years in the 1960s, a member of The Lovin’ Spoonful. Zal and Rose both died in the early aughts, but his daughter, Zoe Yanovsky, now runs both Chez Piggy and Pan Chancho Bakery.

Perfect Slaw

Prepare and set aside in a large bowl:

1/2 green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 onion, diced
2 tsp poppy seeds

Add to a saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves:

1 cup white wine vinegar
2 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS sea salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup brown sugar

Pour hot dressing over the vegetables and marinate for two hours before serving.

This slaw is delicious as a side salad and gives great crunch and flavour on sammies.

Em was here for a lengthy visit in February and the first few days of March. She was babysitting Poppy for most of that time (while we were in Ontario for James’ dad’s funeral). She did stay an extra week just to visit, and I made vegan pulled “pork” sandwiches for her last evening with us. The recipe makes enough for eight well-stuffed sammies, but even after eating sammies for a few meals, we still had some of the seitan and slaw left over.

But I had a hankering for chow mein.

So I whipped together some chow mein sauce, boiled up some noodles, and sauteed a couple of handfuls of the slaw and the last of the pulled-“pork,” which I chopped into small bits. It was absolutely scrumptious–even James enjoyed it and he does not usually like this type of dish made from leftovers!

Vegan “Pork” Chow Mein

Cook according to directions:

4 small nests of chow mein noodles

While noodles are cooking, saute in a large saucepan:

1 cup of Perfect Slaw, drained
2/3 cup of vegan pulled-“pork,” chopped into very small pieces

Meanwhile, prepare this quick sauce by whisking together:

1/3 cup hoisin sauce
3 TBS soy sauce
3 TBS sesame oil
1/2 cup vegan broth
1 TBS tapioca flour
1 TBS sugar

Drain noodles and add to saucepan with slaw and seitan, then add about 2/3 of the sauce. Mix well, and heat through. Add more sauce if needed.

Serve topped with sesame seeds and chopped cashews or peanuts. Delicious and SO easy!!

And the song of the day is, of course, The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream.” And the lyrics are appropriate because we are anticipating our own “bundle of joy” in the next few weeks. No, I’m not pregnant, but we ARE getting a new puppy!