Hawaiian-Style Slaw

In true Nick and Casey fashion, we are back in Hawaii and milking it for as long as humanly possible. We finnagled the ability to work remotely for a few weeks, sweet talked grandpa into letting us use up his visitor days, begged friends to watch our beloved cat, and booked last minute flights, leading right up to the no-fly period of late pregnancy. And boy was it worth it! The 5am wake up times are a bit rough but how can I really complain when we can knock off my 3pm and enjoy paradise. Every time we get back here it takes all of 2 days before Nick is hemming and hawing about how we should move here permanently. And I admit, I also have those thoughts. It’s a much slower way of life and I am here for it.

One thing I am not fan of when we spend extended amounts of time here is the cost of groceries. Prices have gone up everywhere but man, $300 for 2-3 bags of groceries is a hard pill to swallow. And that’s just for 2 of us! One way I try to minimize spend is simple meals with local ingredients. Some items are unavoidable as they simply do not have them locally on the island (sorry tomatoes, I don’t need to eat you for a few weeks). But most vegetables are in abundance. I especially love the asian vegetables that are hard to find at home – japanese eggplant, long beans, thai peppers.

While this dish benefits from the local ingredients available here, you can easily find them on the mainland as well. It’s simple yet delicious and is a great addition to any BBQ. I made it recently for a Hawaiian-style BBQ dinner back at home so that there was SOME greenery on the plate full of Huli Huli chicken, teriyaki steak roll ups, and fried rice.