A Taste of Fall-- Coleslaw

With the cooler weather, I pull out all things "fall"--cabbage, apples, onions, carrots, and cauliflower.  I love the combination of colors, textures, and tastes and decided to try a salad with these basic ingredients.

These look beautiful and inspiring!

I started with a great looking and heavy feeling cabbage.  It was so fresh I had to slap it a couple of times!

Cut cabbage in half and put on your cutting board with the flat side down for safe handling.

Cut in half again and remove the core. 

To prevent accidents in the kitchen, always be sure to put your food with the flat side down so it will not move as you are cutting.  In the example above two different things are being shown.  The quarter cabbage in the front of the picture has the core removed, while the quarter in back is in position to have the core cut out. 

Ready for slicing and washing.

 If you notice dirt as you slice up your cabbage, you can put the thinly sliced cabbage into a salad spinner and remove the dirt just like with lettuce and fresh herbs.

 

Use a salad spinner to wash you cabbage.

Baxter likes to keep an eye on my cooking process--just in case I drop something.

Slice thinly with a knife.

You can slice your cabbage very thinly with a knife for a great texture. It will taste crisp, crunchy and sweet without overwhelming your taste buds. You can also put it through the food processor, but the texture will be different.  I enjoy the process of slicing it all by hand. 

Because I had hand sliced the cabbage thinly, I wanted to include a similar thinness in my red onion and carrots.  You could use a grater for the carrots or the food processor, but I love this little tool.  Also, it doesn't use the whole carrot and then Baxter gets his favorite treat--carrot! I chop it up for him and he gets a little every day until it's gone.

Love the colors!  Let's Eat!

I had some cauliflower in the fridge, so I cut that up really small and threw it in.  Right before serving,  I peeled and diced an apple.

I whipped up a dressing of the following:
3 tbsp. canola oil
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tbsp. honey
1 very generous tsp. dijon mustard (love mustard)
2-3 tbsp cider vinegar, to thin it to the right consistency for pouring and coating
Salt and Pepper
I only poured the dressing on what we ate so the rest is saved separately for another meal.  I don't like my coleslaw as well when it sits in the dressing for too long. 
 
The coleslaw pictured below was made a week or so ago, and used scallions and red peppers.   The cabbage in this one went through the food processor.

A food processor shredding disc was used on this cabbage.

 We often eat coleslaw as a side dish, but since I had just made some pulled pork (in the pressure cooker--fast and fabulous!) we tried some on top of our sandwiches. 

Pulled pork sandwich with barbecue sauce, sliced heirloom tomatoes and coleslaw.

 After all that cooking and waiting for a morsel, Baxter was exhausted.  Poor thing!