My Americana Coleslaw
Coleslaw is pretty all-american if you ask me. It can be southern BBQ food or even Jewish delicatessen food. Its creaminess and sweetness. But how do we lighten it up? I love to eat it, because it is delicious. But when I look at it all i can see is that the cabbage is sitting in a soup of mayonnaise. So I made the decision recently to lighten it up, and if I may say so myself, I've done a great job. Enjoy.
Notes:
1. Mayonaise: I gravitate toward mayo that has no chemicals. Search for an organic mayo. This will help ensure that most of the ingredients are natural and non-GMO. Stay away from the low fat mayo! They are usually loaded up with junk. Better to use less of a better quality higher fat product, than more (or any) of the fat free stuff. Another good option is the olive oil mayonnaise- it has nice flavor too.
2. Cabbage: Use fresh cabbage, not the bagged stuff if you can. The flavor difference is huge. The stuff in the bag really tastes like cardboard compared to freshly sliced cabbage. Also cabbage can be sliced and stored in a zippered bag up to 5 days before using it!! So you can prep the cabbage on Wednesday night. Dress the salad on Friday and eat it all weekend.
Americana Coleslaw
Ingredients:
1/2 head large white cabbage
1/2 head large purple cabbage
2 jumbo large carrots, peeled
1/3 cup real mayonnaise (see note below)
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sugar
1 heaping teaspoon celery seed
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
Directions:
Cut both your cabbages in half and wrap half of each in plastic to use for another day. Store in the fridge. Using a very sharp knife, cut small, long pieces of cabbage and place in a large mixing bowl. Then take your carrots and cut thin rounds (I use a hand mandolin by OXO. I love this one. Easy to use and wash. Makes cutting a cinch. I cut these carrots on the level 2.)
Take a small bowl and whisk (love the small OXO whisk- I use it every day.) to make your dressing. Add your mayo, dijon, sugar, celery seed, onion powder and salt to the bowl. Whisk it together. Add your vinegar, and whisk again. Pour half of your dressing over your cabbage mixture. Using gloved hands (if not take 2 large salad servers to mix) slowly mix cabbage with your dressing. It may take a minute to get the two incorporated. If you need a little extra dressing add some. How much dressing you use, depends on the size of your cabbage. You do not need so much dressing- go slow. Many times I have leftover dressing. The dressing lasts in the fridge for 5 days.
Cover the bowl with plastic and store in the fridge for 30 min before serving. Ideally this shouldn't be dressed more than 1 day prior to the meal you want to serve it at.
Plan ahead:
1. This salad lasts about 48 hours once dressed. You can get a third day out of it if you just use white cabbage. This way the purple color won't run and it will look neater.
2. I buy two large heads of cabbage and use half of each, then wrap the other halves well in plastic wrap for a few days. Then i make the salad again.
3. Depending on the sizes of the cabbage, you may have leftover dressing from the recipe which works out perfectly when you want to dress your second salad. See how that works out??The dressing lasts in the fridge for 5 days.
4. Cabbage can be sliced and stored in a zippered bag up to 5 days before using it!! So, you can prep the cabbage on Wednesday night. Dress the salad on Friday and eat it all weekend. This is my kinda recipe.
