I never truly appreciated the humble coleslaw until I joined a CSA. In fact, as a child, it gave me the heebie-jeebies. Remember picnics with industrial sized vats of slimy, soggy slaw dejectedly wilting in the sun? I've discovered that t turn slaw from slawvenly [sic] to superb you need to make it in small batches with super-fresh veggies, and to keep storage time to a minimum. I don't even like to eat day-old slaw - I find it begins to exhale a certain "cabbatosis" (the cabbage tastes like bad breath) if it sits around. That's one of the reasons I like this particular recipe: the fennel seems to keep the cabbage fresher longer and I can make bigger servings. (We're on day 3 of slaw right now and I just happily munched a bowl of it without any fear of yakking.) Once we're past cabbage season (oops, are we ever past cabbage season? pesky brassicas!!)I'm actually planning to try a batch without any cabbage at all to see how that goes.
Ingredients
1 fennel bulb, core removed, cut into quarters, and sliced very thinly, fronds reserved
1 cup thinly sliced cabbage (I like a mix of purple and white for a fun, festive look)
Optional:
2 scallions, chopped
crumbled bacon or fakin' bacon
For the dressing:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped fennel fronds
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoons mustard seed
Directions
Toss the fennel and cabbage (and optional scallions and bacon) together in a bowl. Whisk the mayonnaise, vinegar, fennel fronds,sugar, and mustard seed in a small bowl. Add the dressing to the slaw and toss to coat. Serve fresh.
Fennel, my nemesis! I usually put a little celery in for that je ne sais quoi. LOVE the mustard seeds, too! Yum. You're so right: slaw is a must when the cabbages come in the CSA. Have you ever made salsa slaw with cilantro, lime juice, tomatoes and red onion?
ReplyDeleteNope, but I'll have to now! We harvested TONS of celery at the farm today, so there may be another slaw in my future this week...
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