For as long as I can remember my mother has regaled me with stories about the first few years of my parents’ relationship. Sharing fries and gravy in the Woodwards cafeteria on their break. Going to their favorite Chinese food restaurant and being told they ordered too much food. Heading over to Boston Pizza on half price Tuesdays. Or my mother asking my father to order white chicken for his meal at Swiss Chalet so she could trade her bun for his wing. If you haven’t noticed there is a bit of a theme, my parents have always loved to share a meal together.
During one determined summer in the mid 80’s my parents were on a mission to get into shape. They walked the river valley, up and down the stairs Edmontonians know so well. Resisted all their usual haunts and by the end of it they sure did look good in their spandex. Mom insists she didn’t do the Jane Fonda look but my imagination has run a little wild, it was the 80’s after all.
Although they eventually returned to their favorite restaurants and found a few more along the way my mother has never forgotten one of her favorite recipes from this time in her life. Today we are sharing her Tropical coleslaw recipe, a unique and slightly healthier version of a traditional coleslaw.
This recipe is a refreshing side to make for a family barbeque or to bring to a potluck. I doubt many will have tried this fun recipe, it will be one they will remember. Try our Cinnamon Chicken recipe to go along with it. We use leftover mandarin and pineapple juice to make a delicious sweet sauce, it makes for a very satisfying meal.
This recipe can be easily made in large or small amounts. We use individual fruit cups for the mandarin oranges, and a single orange yogurt cup to coat the coleslaw. It’s a great recipe to make for 1 to 2 people.
Ingredients
1 stalk (½ cup) chopped celery
⅓ cup shredded carrot
1 112 ml container mandarin oranges in simple syrup drained
½ cup drained pineapple bits
1 small banana sliced
⅛ cup toasted coconut
3 cups shredded cabbage
100 grams orange yogurt
Drain and chill the mandarin oranges and pineapple. Combine shredded cabbage, celery, carrots, coconut, pineapple and oranges. Slice the bananas and add them and the orange yogurt shortly before serving. Toss to coat.
We had a difficult time finding individual pineapple fruit cups so we had some leftover pineapple bits. Which was such a shame because we were forced to make a delicious pineapple upside down cake as pictured below.
It sure didn’t last long and wasn’t on the menu during that mid 80’s summer. We haven’t created a post for the recipe yet, but we will do so sometime in the future. Make sure to also check out our Cinnamon Chicken recipe!
Tropical Coleslaw
Ingredients
- 1 stalk or ½ cup chopped celery
- ⅓ cup shredded carrot
- 1 112 ml container mandarin oranges in simple syrup drained
- ½ cup drained pineapple bits
- 1 small banana sliced
- ⅛ cup toasted coconut
- 3 cups shredded cabbage
- 100 gr orange yogurt
Instructions
- Drain and chill the mandarin oranges and pineapple.
- Combine shredded cabbage, celery, carrots, coconut, pineapple and oranges.
- Slice the bananas and add them and the orange yogurt shortly before serving.
- Toss to coat.
