3 slaws that slay

Curtido should preferably be made at least a few hours ahead and keeps for 2 weeks.

Sometimes I feel the need for a different kind of coleslaw. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a well-executed standard mayo-based slaw dressing, but sometimes I want the slaw to do a bit more work as part of an overall menu, delivering both a good solid crunch factor and some added what's-it in a way that the more mild-mannered versions don't. 

While coleslaw might most often be thought of as a summer cookout side dish, I think it really shines the most in late winter, when we haven't seen a truly decent green salad for months. Then cabbage, kale and other sturdy carriers for dressing fill that void, with the added bonus that cabbage is open to a lot of different flavor combinations. Here are three to try:

Curtido

Adapted from Food & Wine May 2023 issue. The recipe is credited to Evelyn Garcia of Jūn in Houston. This slaw was a topping for pupusas, and would work in other sandwich/wrap usages. I just served it as a side with a sturdy soup.

Ingredients

4 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
½ cup thinly sliced red onion
¼ cup shredded carrot
1 medium jalapeño chile, sliced (or I used 1 tablespoon sliced pickled jalapeños)

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh cilantro stems, plus leaves for garnish
1 cup white vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fine sea salt

Method

Toss together cabbage, onion, carrot and jalapeño in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and poor hot vinegar over cabbage mixture. Combine well, cover and chill at least an hour, and preferably overnight. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Rating: This one will make you pucker up. It actually provided a nice bright flavor contrast to an Italian sausage soup served with cornbread. I don't think I'd make it again as a serve-alone slaw because a little goes a long way with that sharp vinegar, but if you cut the recipe in half and use it as a relish, it definitely has merit. 

 

Napa cabbage slaw

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens July/August 2024 issue, although I can't find the original recipe on their site to link to, where it was served as a side for a pork dish. Serves 6-ish.

Ingredients

5 cups shredded Napa cabbage
1 cup sliced yellow pepper strips
½ cup shredded carrot
½ cup snap peas, chopped on the diagonal (or slivered snow pea pods)
¼ cup chopped green onion
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
¼ salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Method

Combine cabbage, pepper strips, carrot, snap peas and onion in a large serving bowl.

Whisk together vinegar, oils, tamari and salt and pepper. Drizzle over slaw mixture and toss to distribute dressing.

Rating: Colorful, crunchy and with a snappy dressing. It was a nice contrast to a bowl of chili.

Leftover factor: While the Napa cabbage is fairly sturdy, I wouldn't count on making this a day ahead without it losing at least a bit of its crunch. But you could certainly assemble the slaw parts and dressing separately and then toss them closer to serving time. It's not like it instantly wilts or anything like that, so I imagine a hour ahead of serving would still be just dandy. I was struck by how well this slaw would do on a chicken/bean wrap, so I suspect it has other uses.

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Kaleslaw

Adapted from "Fifty Shades of Kale" by Dr. Drew Ramsey and Jennifer Iserloh. Serves 8 quite readily.

Ingredients
1 bunch dinosaur kale or a mixture of kinds of kale, stems removed, about 10 cups chopped
1 red, orange or yellow pepper sliced thinly or a mix thereof
6 grated carrots (I used a mix of the tri-colored snacking carrots for extra color
1½ Kale-onaise (see recipe below)

Method
Combine chopped kale, sliced pepper and carrots in a large bowl. Toss with dressing and chill for at least an hour before serving or overnight to give it time to break down the kale a bit.

Kale-onnaise

2 cups chopped packed kale
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

In a food processor blend kale, salt and garlic until finely chopped. Add mayo and lemon zest and juice and process until smooth.

Rating: The salad is fine enough, but the dressing is one of those that you could inhale. It has a very bright, fresh flavor that tastes of sunnier days. It works well on the salad, as a sandwich spread, pretty much anything you can think of. It does not taste particularly kaley, so it's a great way to use up part of a bunch of kale before it eventually wilts. This usage is a keeper.

Leftover factor: Even kale will start to lose a tad bit of its sturdiness in the face of being in dressing for a few days. It was still OK enough the second day, but I think if I were do it again I would have tossed in some chickpeas with the leftovers and put it over leftover grains for a grain bowl treatment.

Basil honey dressing

 

This is a good one to pull out if you've got a bumper crop of basil about to probably take a dive as the weather trends cooler.

Basil honey dressing

From “The Spoonriver Cookbook,” by Brenda Langton and Margaret Stuart. Spoonriver is no more, but the cookbook remains. The recipe notes that you could substitute rice or champagne vinegar.

Ingredients
1 cup olive oil
1 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 cup packed basil leaves
¼ cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons honey

Method
Blend all ingredients in the blender. 

Rating: Very bright flavors. The honey helps balance out the vinegar and onion bite, but this can still pack a bit of a wacka-wacka punch.  This is a fairly thin dressing, which personally I don't mind, but if you're looking for something fairly viscous, this isn't it.

Similar to: The dressing on this arugula fennel salad, which gained a place in my dressing rotation, and has the advantage of staying mixed.

Pair with: This worked well on a chopped salad with grilled chicken breasts, blue cheese crumbles, tomatoes and wonton strips.

 

What else I'm cooking this week

It's peak produce-preserving time at our house, so these usual suspects came into play:

Pepperonata makes a wonderful condiment, a great pizza topping with goat cheese and works as a pasta sauce sprinkled with feta.

Ditto with cherry tomato confit, which freezes beautifully, and makes great use of all those volunteer mini tomatoes.

Honey Dijon dressing and chicken, feta, tomato pasta salad

 

Aside from whomping up a vinaigrette as needed, the honey mustard dressing used in this salad is kind of our house dressing. Both it and the salad have been stand-bys for decades.

 

Bistro chicken with feta

Adapted from a recipe promoting Athenos crumbled feta. After this much passage of time, I can't remember whether it was in a magazine ad or on a package. It specified their basil-tomato version, but it works fine with any good feta.

Ingredients
1 pound penne or rotini pasta, cooked until al dente and drained
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered if large or halved if small
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
½ cup honey Dijon mustard (or to taste)
⅓ cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, torn (a bit of lemon basil is especially nice in this recipe)
¼ cup chopped red onion
¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (oil-packed and drained)
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, grilled and cut into bite-size chunks

Method
Mix all ingredients. Serve warm or chilled. (If you’re going to serve it chilled, err on the side of more dressing to keep it moist.)

Rating: It's like cheating, really, to combine those ingredients. It comes together quickly and keeps well. It's been on many a picnic with us. You could skip the chicken if you wanted to make it vegetarian and it would still hold up flavor-wise.

 

 

Honey-mustard dressing

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens “Great Cooking for Two.” Any kind of Dijon-ish mustard will do. Makes about ¾ cup.

Ingredients
⅓ cup light olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon or coarse grain mustard
1 garlic clove, minced

Method
Whisk ingredients together. Can be made ahead, but it’s best to allow it to come closer to room temperature before using.

Rating: There's a reason this sweet-tangy concoction is our house dressing. It's like the little black dress of dressings. It works as a basting sauce for grilled chicken or veggies, and if a pasta recipe needs just a little brightening, a smidge will give it subtle help.

 

Summer broccoli slaw with creamy dill dressing

 

Creamy dilly summer salad dressing

Adapted from “True North Cabin Cookbook,” by Stephanie Hansen, who also is apparently afflicted/blessed by volunteer dill. I had a super abundance this spring, and it's enjoying a second wave this fall.

Ingredients
½ cup plain yogurt
⅓ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Zest of ½ lemon
1 tablespoon water (or liquid from yogurt)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Method
Combine everything but herbs to mix well. Stir in herbs a bit at a time until well blended. 

Rating: Good for sturdy salads. The flavor is fine enough when made and used right away, but the dressing improves a bit if you've got time to make it ahead and refrigerate it a bit before using.

 

What to use it for

Summer broccoli slaw. Mix half a package of broccoli slaw mix (or to make your own chop two medium broccoli stems and 1 medium carrot into matchsticks and toss with ½ cup shredded red cabbage) with 7 sliced radishes and 1 cup broccoli florets torn into bite-size pieces. Mix with about half the creamy dill dressing. Makes about 4 servings. Nice mix of crunch and creaminess.

Quick pasta salad: Cook 1 cup orzo according to package directions. To drained, cooled orzo, add 1 cup chopped English cucumbers or snap pea pods,  ½ cup chopped red peppers, 2 chopped green onions and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley. Mix in creamy dill dressing to taste.

For a completely different take on a dill dressing, try the dressing on this strawberry spinach salad.

Mango couscous chicken salad with sesame ginger dressing

 The Asian chop salad kits are among my top short-cut food vices, and the bottled Asian dressing is pricey enough even on a Lunds' BOGO, so this dressing definitely caught my eye. The salad itself was born out of what was in the house. It keeps fine enough so it works as a make ahead I can grab on the way out the door.

Mango couscous chicken salad with sesame ginger dressing

Ingredients
⅔ cup couscous
1 cup water
¼ teaspoon Tajin or salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onions
⅔ cup chopped cucumbers
1½ cup kale leaves cut into narrow ribbons (discard any ribs and stems)
1 cup radicchio cut into narrow ribbons
1 cup mango cut into ½-inch pieces
1 cooked chicken breast half, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons raw cashews, lightly toasted, plus more for garnish
Sesame ginger dressing to taste (see recipe below, or you could use a bottled Asian dressing)

Method
Bring water to a boil in small sauce pan along with Tajin. Remove from heat, stir in couscous, cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a bowl to cool.

To cooled couscous, add red onions and cucumbers. Toss to distribute. Add in kale, radicchio, mango, chicken, cilantro and cashews. Stir in enough of the sesame ginger dressing to moisten, tasting as you go to reach desired consistency. You’ll likely have half the dressing left over for another use, but the couscous does absorb a fair amount.

 

Sesame ginger dressing
Dressing adapted from “Live Life Deliciously” by Tara Teaspoon, aka Tara Bench

Ingredients
¼ cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
¼ cup fresh lime juice
½ tablespoon tamari
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
⅔ cup canola oil

Method
Combine vinegar, lime juice, tamari, honey, ginger, sesame oil and seeds. Slowly stir in the canola oil, whisking constantly. Cover and refrigerate if not using within an hour. It will separate the minute your back is turned, so you’ll need to stir it before use.

Rating: The salad is a nice blend of softness and crunch, sweetness and tang. I stayed on the conservative side of adding the dressing, so it was more of a complementary flavor note than the star, but it can certainly work as an admirable stand-in for that stuff that comes in the salad kits. Bonus points for no annoying and wasteful plastic packaging. 

I keep a few metal forks in the office for civilized eating (well, as civilized as eating at one's desk can be), and I really like these ceramic bowls with microwave safe lids for toting lunches.

Green goddess tuna salad sandwiches, green goddess dip(s)

 

It's interesting what passes under the umbrella of green goddess dressing. Lots of latitude in the recipes one finds online. Wikipedia cites its source as a San Francisco hotel in the 1920s. I remember being not super impressed by what came out of the standard bottle as a kid, but the bright flavors of a freshly made dressing has merit.

Thanks to adding more grow lights in the basement this winter, we had a fairly healthy tarragon plant to take outside this spring, and green goddess goodness seemed like a way to make some inroads into the supply.

Green goddess tuna salad sandwiches
Adapted from Bon Appetit, March 2018. Serves 2.

Ingredients
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup fresh basil leaves
¼ cup fresh parsley
¼ cup fresh tarragon leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 teaspoon, divided
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of half a lemon, divided
1 (5-ounce) can tuna, drained
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 small shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup mixed chopped herbs, such as parsley, basil, dill, and/or chervil
2 English muffins, toasted

Method
In a blender or food processor, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, basil, parsley, tarragon, 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and puree.

In a small bowl, mix tuna, celery, shallot, garlic and enough of the dressing to reach desired consistency, probably 2 to 3 tablespoons. Store remaining dressing for another use.

Toss mixed herbs with remaining lemon juice, 1 teaspoon olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.

Place tuna mixture on toasted English muffin half. Top with chopped herbs and remaining muffin half.

Rating: Providing you make the dressing in advance, this makes a pretty fast tasty weekday lunch. Other reviewers had said the dressing to tuna ratio was off. I agree, but instead of adding twice the amount of tuna, which seemed to be the standard fix, I just opted to have leftover dressing, since one can of tuna is plenty to pile onto two English muffins. Any more and it becomes logistically not viable.

Besides, that leftover dressing makes a killer dip for veggies or chips. 

Green goddess ricotta dip
Adapted from Abra’s Kitchen, by Abra Pappa. I upped the garlic from the original and was glad I did, since otherwise it would have been undetectable by our standards.

Ingredients
1½ cups ricotta
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup mixed herbs (I used basil, tarragon, chives, parsley and dill)
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Method
Combine all ingredients in a food process or blender until smooth. 

Rating: Not bad. Fast to fix, easy to make ahead. But having recently used the leftover dressing from the sandwich recipe as a dip, this wasn't quite as tasty. Fine enough to  make if that's what you have on hand, though.

Green Goddess Feta Dip
Adapted from Gimme Some Oven, who in turn adapted it from Melissa Clark of the New York Times

Ingredients
5 ounces feta cheese, plus more for garnish
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large or two small avocados, peeled and pitted
1 lemon, juiced
½ cup fresh basil leaves
½ cup fresh dill
½ cup fresh chives
3 tablespoons lemon balm leaves*
1 tablespoon tarragon leaves
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup olive oil

Method
Combine everything but olive oil in a food processor and puree briefly. With motor running, blend in olive oil. Season  to taste with salt and pepper.Garnish with more crumbled feta if desired.

*You could substitute mint for the lemon balm and/or tarragon if need be. Just don’t invite me.

Rating: Perfectly tasty, and tastier than the ricotta version, although they both have their uses. The only disadvantage to this one is that you've got to have a just-right avocado on hand, so it's less pantry/frig friendly than the ricotta version. 

Still saying the leftover dressing from the tuna sandwiches makes the best dip of the three. That one I'd definitely make again with or without the tuna sandwich treatment. 

And amazingly, the tarragon plant is still going strong.