Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Summer Slaw (that doesn't suck)

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.

2 comments:

  1. 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?

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  2. Nope, 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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