Caesar Slaw

Last October I decided that it was time for me to take a break from recipe development. I was headed off to Scotland to tour and write about a couple of distilleries, which seemed like a good time for a change. That five-day trip turned into three months abroad, and in the first six weeks I don’t think I so much as heated up a can of soup — every meal I ate was prepared by someone else. This was almost certainly my longest break from cooking since I first picked up a frying pan, and it was welcome. Eventually, though, recipe ideas started to pop into my head again, and I felt the urge to once again create in the culinary medium. This recipe is not a difficult one, but it is one of the first that I’d put together in a long time — and also the kind of damn good idea that you can’t ignore for too long once it enters your mind.

Caesar salad is a Forget family staple. Some of my earliest culinary memories center on a big wooden bowl full of crisp romaine tossed in the family’s signature punchy dressing. The trouble with Caesar salad and living in a bus, however, is that lettuce is a horrible ingredient on the road. It doesn’t last long after it’s purchased, and it takes up a huge amount of space in the tiny refrigerator. Cabbage, on the other hand, is hardy enough to hang out in the produce basket at room temperature for a week before you use it. So, why not make a Caesar slaw instead?

As it turns out, Caesar slaw is an excellent idea. I did need to tweak the dressing slightly to better suit cabbage than romaine, but it is just as good in real life as it was in my head. Next time you’re either hankering for a Caesar salad or looking for a way to spice up your coleslaw, this Caesar slaw recipe is a perfect solution.

Caesar Slaw

A perfect collision of two culinary favorites, creamy coleslaw takes on a decidedly elegant new angle when made with a custom-built caesar coleslaw dressing.

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 2 lbs. cabbage
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp anchovy paste
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup mayonnaise

Method

 

1. Quarter the cabbage and slice it as thinly as possible.
2. Make the dressing by mixing together all of the ingredients aside from the mayonnaise, then folding in the mayonnaise until well combined.
3. Work the dressing into the thinly sliced cabbage and then cover and store in the refrigerator for at least one hour to allow the flavors to meld and the cabbage to soften.