Coleslaw—it's not just for picnics

Last week I found myself without any lettuce in the house. Crazy, I know, but I love improvising and since I was grilling burgers for dinner (served with homemade pickles), I decided to make some slaw from the head of cabbage I bought at the farmer's market. I'm more partial to vinegar-based coleslaw since mayonnaise frightens me. There's no sane explanation for it. All I know is, BLTs are favorite sandwich and I always get a raised eyebrow when I say no mayo. The customer is always right, thank you very much.

Anyway, I digress as usual. I've found that coleslaw, even vinegar-based ones, benefit from just a bit of mayonnaise. I've made homemade mayo before, and well that was a revelation I promise to blog about, recipe included, soon. On this night, however, 14-month-old stuck to my leg like a suction cup, I had to rely on what the supermarket had to offer. Read a few labels and you'll probably have the same aversion to mayo that I do. I try to avoid anything hydrogenated, partially or not, from passing my threshold. I was pleased to see that Kraft makes a product called REAL Mayo. Now, the real, real thing only has egg yolks, lemon juice, oil and salt. This was an okay substitute with less than 10 ingredients, all of which I could pronounce (even though some were stabilizers to make it shelf-friendly).

So, where was I? Oh, yes, coleslaw. This recipe was good on day one but the real surprise came on day three when I found the leftovers in the back of the fridge. The slaw, which could've used a bit more celery seed on day one, tasted perfect after a few days marinating. This ones a keeper for the recipe files. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Oh, and that picture of the cabbage below is me removing the core. Don't forget to do that too before you shred it. The stuff next to it is celery seed.

Coleslaw

Makes 5 cups

A food processor with a shredding blade will help prep the cabbage and carrots in record time—otherwise, a sharp chef's knife will do the job just fine. This recipe is meant to be made a day or two in advance, so If you're making this to serve the same day, I suggest doubling the amount of celery seed for maximum flavor.

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 teaspoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon agave nectar

4 cups shredded cabbage (about 1/2 a head)

1 cup shredded carrots

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Add celery seed, vinegar, oil, mayonnaise and agave nectar to a deep bowl; whisk until combined. Add cabbage and carrots and toss to coat well. Season with salt and pepper. Store in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container overnight or up to three days.

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Comments

[Elle]

I love cole slaw! This recipe looks wonderful--I like that there's only a little mayo, and it's not suffocating in it!

[Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction]

It may sound strange, but my hubby and I re-discovered cole slaw in the last year or two. We used to both hate it, and now we can't get enough! This recipe sounds like a great staple recipe to have around... I think I will give it a try next time!