Lemony Slaw
I was thinking about slaw for a while before Gigi posted some she made one her new series Now Gigi Serves Dinner! Once I saw that I knew it was time to stop thinking about it and just make it.
There was a time when I wouldn’t even think about making it. Heck, I wouldn’t even eat it. Then again, the only slaw I ever had was from that chicken giant. I lived behind another fried chicken joint franchise for a time after college. It was one of the few things that I ever ordered spicy. The chicken, I mean. One day, I decided to try their slaw. I. Loved. It. Go figure.
I’ve been a lover of slaw since then. Still not fond of that one chicken giant, but I’m sure it’s full of preservatives anyway. I think the only slaw I’ve had that I didn’t like was from the cafeteria at one of my jobs. The dietary staff put together this gourmet lunch for us at the beginning of the school year and one of the guys made a slaw. I hit it with gusto, but something just didn’t taste right. It was bleu cheese dressing. Ack. I set that aside.
Monday was my grocery day and I came home all excited about making slaw that night for dinner. I go in to the kitchen later and my food processor decides it’s going on strike. It would not run with the slicer or shredder attachment. Not even a little groan. I even looked it up online and couldn’t figure out how to get it to work for me. I put it aside and pulled out the mandoline. My fancy little gadget gives me nothing but trouble. I say fancy because it will do more than just slice. It will dice and julienne 3 different sizes each.
I get started and things are going well. Or so I thought. Somehow huge chunks of food are getting through, the julienned pieces aren’t coming apart. It was a mess. I was frustrated and saying a few choice 4 letter words. This wasn’t 5 minutes I wasted. It was nearly an hour and all I had was badly cut cabbage and radishes to show for my trouble. Or the show of my trouble. I threw down the towel and left the kitchen. Just looking at my knife made me fear hurting myself trying to hand cut everything with the level of emotion I had going on. This was disaster #3 in a week’s time. My nerves were shot.
I texted Chaz and asked him to pick something up for dinner. He brought me Chipotle. He’s the man.
Tuesday morning I spent hours in the kitchen prepping my breakfasts for the week (I’m hoping to get it up and ready for this month’s Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten-free event), dinner for that night (including the slaw), and veggies for soup on Wednesday (I want to be able to just throw everything in the slow cooker before I left for work). The whole time I was just praying that my concept for the slaw turn out like I was thinking of it in my head.
I tossed all the veggies and let them sit in the fridge until I was ready to eat. I was in love again. This is a tart slaw, but not overly tart. I did not sweeten it with anything and instead relied on the jicama to bring just a hint of sweetness to it.
Lemony Slaw, serves 4
1/4 head red cabbage, sliced thin
2 carrots, julienned
6 radishes, julienned
2 stalks celery, julienned
2 slices of jicama, julienned
1 avocado, diced
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon celery seed
dash of salt
sliced almonds, optional
Toss the produce together in a large bowl. If you are making this ahead of time, wait to add the avocado until you are getting ready to serve. Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, celery seed, and salt. The dressing will emulsify as you whisk it. Pour dressing over the slaw and toss well. Garnish with sliced almonds on the plate if desired.
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