For those of you who don’t know, I’m an unabashed Yankee; I was born and raised about 18 miles north of Boston, in Concord, Mass. In that neck of the woods, a Saturday Night Suppah more often than. Or included baked beans, brown bread and freshly made cole slaw. Cabbage is much maligned, methinks, and shouldn’t be. New England is a place where it is celebrated in many dishes, and I carry that tradition to this day.
Slaw can be as simple or as complex as you like, but it general, a few truly fresh ingredients do the trick best. Cole slaw dressing from the store, with very, very few exceptions, is utter crap, filled with nasty fats, sweeteners, thickeners and preservatives you really and truly want no part of. House made is always best, period: Here’s how I do my favorite version.
For the veggie mix,
Green or Red Cabbage
Sweet Onion
1 small Carrot
Small handful Celery Leaves
1 Clove fresh Garlic
Sea Salt
Fresh ground Pepper
Rinse and slice roughly 1/8 head of cabbage very thinly (about 1/8″), across the grain. Cut into more or less bite size pieces.
Cut 2 or 3 slices of sweet onion the same way.
Rinse and use a peeler to shave the carrot into very thin strips, then cut down to bite size as above.
Chiffonade the celery leaves, and mince the garlic.
Combine all in a non-reactive mixing bowl, season liberally with salt and pepper and toss to blend.
For the dressing,
1 Cup real Mayonnaise, (Homemade is always best)
1 Tablespoon Agave Nectar
1 teaspoon Malt Vinegar
Sea Salt
Fresh ground Pepper
Combine mayo, agave and vinegar and whisk to blend. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste.
Combine dressing nod veggie mix and blend thoroughly. Place slaw in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, (and up to overnight), before serving, to allow flavors to marry and develop.
UrbanMonique 