I recently declared, that in addition to making lots of salad dressing from scratch (a completely easy task) I’m calling this the Summer of Slaw. Not your typical sad, soggy, mayo-filled slaw in a ramekin served on the side of your meal at a ho-hum establishment, but delicious non-mayo slaw filled with crunchy veggies and tangy flavors. I’ve realized I have lived a long slaw-less life (I don’t care much for mayo when it is served outside of potato/egg/tuna/chicken salad) and I’m out to remedy this situation. Slaw, as it turns out, is delicious.
My first introdction to Good Slaw is what B and I call “Taco Topper”. It started with the awesome cilantro slaw recipe found in Cooking Light’s delicious Ancho Chicken Tacos (h/t/ to Kate for the thumbs up on the recipe) and evolved from there. And by “evolved” I mean I add a lot more cilantro than the recipe calls for along with a generas handful of shredded carrots if I’m feeling sassy. We eat tacos about once a week (chicken, fish, meatless, on flour tortillas, corn tortillas and any other way you can shake up tacos) and Taco Topper is our new-found lettuce replacement. Crunchy! Flavorful! So damn good!
Around the same time (I think?) that I discovered Taco Topper I made a Smitten Kitchen recipe deep from her archives, for what she calls Green Onion Slaw. I’m sad this recipe doesn’t have its very own page on her website and instead shares the glory with Tequila Lime Chicken, which I have never made because the slaw is where it is at. This one is spiicy and we love it, even with its two tablespoons of mayonaaise. I assure you that you will not notice the mayo. You’ll be too busy fanning your mouth and scooping more slaw in. You can blame the heat on the serranos.
Anyway, with two recipes down and a few delicious slaws eaten at various events and restaurants, I’ve realized I really love coleslaw, just not cabbage/mayo/salt/pepper coleslaw. This weekend we are hosting a birthday dinner, so in addition to barbeque ribs and baked beans I’m making cabbage slaw with “tangy mustard seed dressing” and I’m already excited for it. I’m an addict and I can admit it. I have a list of slaw recipes ready to try and the only thing between me and crunchy glory is how long it takes my husband to say “You know I’m not really a fan of coleslaw….” or something similar. (He has used this tactic to crush my plans to regularly eat chicken pot pie, anything with mustard and roasted brussels sprouts…and by regularly I mean at least once a week)
Anyway, uh, if you have any good slaw recipes you know where to send them. Over and out, off to buy cabbage and vinegar.
