Nutty Slaw

Lots of us enjoy main-dish salads when we eat out, but we rarely go to the trouble of chopping and assembling colorful crunchy salads at home. This is a shame because it’s all so easy.

Just to prove that I CAN prepare something without resorting to my food processor, I’ll whip out my trusty knives and prepare this baby completely by hand. The processor would do a fast and nifty job, and would shred up the vegetables more finely that I can do on my own. But the last two recipes involved the food processor, and one does have one’s reputation to uphold.

Besides, I’m cooking for one this evening and who wants to clean another machine?

If we were writing this recipe for one of those Local Church Women Mission Fund Cookbooks, undoubtedly it would be called “Calico Coleslaw,” with its pretty blending of Red Cabbage (which is really purple,) white Fennel and green Napa Cabbage. But that’s just too predictable, and besides, this slaw would never qualify for a church cookbook, as it sadly lacks any mayonnaise, whipped topping or miniature marshmallows. But we will soldier on the best we can, and name it Nutty Slaw on account of the Goober Peas.

If you like, you may think of this as a hearty snack to keep the cook from starving while waiting to share a late supper of Boeuf Bourguignon with her beloved. You go right on thinking that, because the truth is he’s having pizza and beer with the, um, men’s prayer group and the cook will be having another glass of wine while curled in bed with a steamy paperback.

Recipe: Nutty Slaw

1 cup shredded Red Cabbage

1 cup shredded Napa or Chinese Cabbage

1 cup shredded Fennel Bulb

1 handful Peanuts (Goober Peas, y'all)

1 Tbs. grated fresh (frozen) Ginger

½ c. Cider Vinegar

1 Tbs. Sugar

¼ c. Olive Oil

2 oz. julienne sliced cold ham

Instructions: toss all the veggies together.

The only other directions needed for this recipe involve dissolving the sugar (I prefer raw cane sugar) in the cider vinegar. Stir together then heat in a glass bowl in the microwave; boil about 25 – 30 seconds. Stir again and whisk in the Olive Oil. As a nice touch, you could keep this dressing warm and pour it over the salad as it is served.

To slice the Red Cabbage, I used a stainless steel chef's knife rather than my favorite carbon steel knife, because carbon steel will turn red cabbage blue. Generally speaking, that's not an attractive color in a salad.

If you haven’t used Fennel before, there’s no mystery to it. It is a vegetable with a mild licorice fragrance, more noticeable when prepared raw than when cooked. Fennel tops are bright green and feathery, and make very pretty garnishes.

The Peanuts could go into the salad without chopping, according to preference. Don’t use Spanish Peanuts in this dish. The skins would not improve the overall texture.

The ham in this slaw truly was a last minute thought, when I realized I didn’t want anything else for supper and ought to have a bit more protein besides the Goobers. You could serve the ham fried or grilled as a separate dish, of course, but I wanted the salty meat tossed with the sweet/sour dressing and crunchy veggies.

Ginger Root keeps nicely in the freezer, and is easy to use. Buy the largest, smoothest Ginger Root you can find. Break it up and keep it in plastic bags in the freezer. To use, peel a piece of frozen root with a vegetable peeler; it's easier than it sounds. Then shred the still-frozen root on a fine cheese grater, directly into the dish. Put the remaining piece of root back in the freezer; it's as easy as that.

Looking over this salad one last time, it wouldn’t make a bad dish to carry to a church supper, with or without the meat included. Just don’t let anyone top it with Mayo, okay?

copyright Starr Luteri, 2009