Crisp Coleslaw

I serve this almost every time we entertain outside in the summer, and it's also a dish I'll bring with me to functions.  It is always well received and very different from the standard coleslaw you might pick up at the deli.  I usually prepare this at least 12 hours before first serving, 24 hours seems to be optimal, but it is good even a few hours after mixing together.  I can almost guarantee someone will remark how "fresh" this tastes!

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Ingredients:

1 large head cabbage
1 can large/jumbo black olives (I think Trader Joe's brand are my secret weapon!)
Several large pickles (I prefer kosher dills, garlic if possible) - enough so there are roughly equal amounts of pickles and olives

  Dressing:  

Mayo* - perhaps 1/4 c
Sour Cream - perhaps 1/2 c
Olive Oil - maybe 2T
Vinegar - I use apple cider or my new favorite white balsamic vinegar - 2T
Pickle Juice - about 2T
Onion and/or garlic powder
White pepper powder (or black, but I prefer white)
Thyme leaves (dry)
Ground sage
Celery seed powder
Salt - optional!

Preparation:

Remove outer leaves from cabbage and cut into workable wedges.  This is the one thing I use a particular food processor for that Alton Brown would probably light me up for owning!  For those unfamiliar with AB, he's all about only having multi-tasker gadgets in the kitchen.  But truth be told, this one is great for making this slaw and not for much else.  So be it ;-)

 
The goal is a somewhat coarse slicing so you get mostly 1-2" long slivers.  The single slicing blade on a food processor feeding in wedges does the trick.  This can certainly be done with a good knife too, and that's how I used to do it before getting this contraption.   Whatever you do, do NOT grate your cabbage.  This I believe eventually makes for that limp slaw.

Slice olives.  Since I love discontinuity in my cooking, I usually do about half lengthwise quarters and half circles.  Chop pickles - I usually go for something a little bigger than 1/4" cubes - but mine certainly are far from uniform! 

To make the dressing I first mix all the wet ingredients together.  Lately I've been using the onion powder instead of the garlic powder.   I start with about 1T of this and about 1t pepper and about 1/2 t of the others. I do not add salt at this point.  My philosophy on all of this is that you can always add more, but you can't take it out!  So I taste my dressing and adjust a bit.  Do realize that the cabbage is a flavor sucker so the dressing will be potent.  If it's not tart, add a touch more vinegar or pickle juice or both.

I had about 1/3rd of a container of sourcream, so I just mixed everything in that.  I've included those pics below so you can get an idea of my "exact" measurements ;-)

 

             adding mayo                                                          adding dry seasonings                                 

 adding vinegar, oil & pickle juice                                              the final consistency

I assemble my slaw in two or three layers for better mixing.  Put the cabbage, pickles and olives, pour some dressing over, repeat.  Then I just get my hands dirty and mix the whole thing up good and into the refrig.  Make sure to stir at least once before serving, preferably every 4 hours or so.  About half the time I find myself adding just a bit of some seasoning or another the next morning, and about half the time I'm glad I didn't add it the previous day because it tasted a bit bland.  

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This recipe is naturally low carb and you'll notice there's no sugar in it.  I've never seen a need to add sweet, although the white balsamic does add just a little hint of it.  You can make your own mayo, but  I just use good old Hellmann's.  About 1/4c for this whole batch ain't gonna kill me.  Up until about a year ago, I used the Canola "flavor" - when I started using this way back it was a full fat mayo, now it's half fat.  I never noticed the changeover so just kept using that.  We still buy that sometimes.   

This recipe can be incorporated into a low fat diet as is.  The fat is not all that much for the whole thing, certainly far less than the usually mayo-soaked deli fare.  But I've made it with that 1/2 fat canola mayo and/or with reduced fat (none of that fake fat free "cream" that's an oxymoron!) and you don't miss the fat at all.