mama’s coleslaw
I don’t particularly love coleslaw (or “slaw” in the south), but I always loved my mom’s recipe. I added a little dijon to give it a kick, but this really is some delicious stuff. even if you don’t think you’re a coleslaw fan, give it a try–I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
the secret to making this stuff so good is soaking the cabbage in a seemingly disgusting amount of salt. this process tenderizes the cabbage by drawing out the water & makes it much more palatable (similar to the idea of massaging the kale in my simple kale salad). it also gives it a salty bite, which is obviously always good. be careful, however to not under or over-rinse. you don’t want to take all of the salt out, but you also definitely don’t want to leave it too salty. i find thoroughly rinsing about twice does the trick, but be sure to taste along the way!
Ingredients
1 large head of cabbage (or buy the pre-sliced mix with the carrots already included--just make sure that the cabbage is thinly sliced)
1-2 carrots (skip this if you buy the pre-sliced mix & the carrots are already included)
1/2 large red onion
salt (a lot)
3/4c. mayo (get the good stuff with real egg--do I sound like Ina?!)
2 tbs. dijon mustard
1/2 tbs. ground black pepper
1/2-3/4 tbs. celery seed
Instructions
place the chopped up cabbage (or pour out the bag of it) into a colander & drench in salt. I like to do this in layers so I make sure the cabbage is evenly salted. when you think there's WAY too much salt on there, keep going.. (for those of you who want guidance, all in all let's say about 1/2 cup of salt).
once the cabbage has been sitting for 30 minutes, squeeze one large handful at a time to get the water out and move to a large bowl. try to get as much water squeezed out as you can.
once you've squeezed the water out of all the cabbage, rinse thoroughly to get the salt out, then squeeze the water out again.
taste the cabbage to make sure it's not too salty (if so, rinse again). but, i like to leave it a little saltier than i think it should be because the dressing doesn't have any salt, so it evens out in the end.
once it tastes ok, dry the cabbage as much as you can with a paper towel (or, use a salad spinner
let the cabbage sit out so it can air dry a bit more while you make the dressing.
for the dressing, combine the mayo, mustard, pepper, and celery seed. the celery seed flavor really makes this slaw delicious, so if you don't taste it enough feel free to add more.
once the cabbage is dry enough (make sure it's not wet because otherwise your dressing will turn soupy and gross), stir it together with the dressing in a large bowl.
last, grate in the red onion (or you can chop it, but i like the tiny bites of red onion you get with a grater).
stir & let sit in the fridge before serving for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors combine.
enjoy alone, with any summer menu, or, it's especially delicious with my pulled bbq chicken
http://www.dishandchipsblog.com/mamas-coleslaw/
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