Give Your Coleslaw a Salad With Wedges
Ever since I read that Ina Garten puts blue cheese in her coleslaw , I’ve been obsessed with what I’ve come to call a “cabbage slaw” made with all the usual salad dressings. Today I finally made it a reality, and it’s everything I dreamed of (and even a little more).
Does this contradict A. A. Newton’s Coleslow Manifesto ? Yes a little. Newton isn’t all for riffing, but she’s very for wedging in, and I’ve already warned her about my blatant disregard for rules through the lyrics. (She’s not crazy.)
Making a wedge-slow turned out to be very simple. Newton had already perfected the dressing proportions, so all I had to do was add some red wine vinegar for the apple cider and add a few salad toppings. I went with diced grape tomatoes (I love their pulp to jelly ratio), crispy bacon, thinly sliced red onion and blue cheese, and fresh scallions as a garnish. These are the rules.
It tastes exactly as I thought it would, like a spicier salad with a stronger, slightly bitter base of leaves, and would be totally appropriate for a late-season barbecue. I wouldn’t serve it with a smoked pork shoulder (go with a classic salad), but it would be fantastic with a simple grilled steak or fried shrimp. It’s also pretty good straight out of the bowl, on its own, with an ice cold martini to wash it down with.
How to make zucchini salad (for 6-8 servings)
Ingredients:
For refueling:
- Generous ¼ cup mayonnaise
- Generous ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 heaping teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, plus more to taste
- 1 large pinch monosodium glutamate (optional but very good)
- Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
For salad:
- Half green cabbage
- Half of a small red onion
- 1 cup whole grape tomatoes
- 2/3 cup blue cheese
- 6 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
- Green onion for garnish
Mix all dressing ingredients in a bulk container. Taste and add more sugar and salt (or pepper and MSG) if needed. The dressing should be borderline unpleasant in itself, so don’t be afraid to oversalt it.
Shred the cabbage by making two opposite diagonal cuts at the top of the cabbage and following these cuts with a knife, alternating both sides until you reach the core. Add cabbage to a large bowl. Cut half an onion into thin slices, then cut those slices in half and add them to the mixer bowl. Prepare the tomatoes by cutting them into quarters vertically, then finely chop each quarter (each quarter into four small pieces) and add to the mixer bowl.
Toss the vegetables together, then drizzle with enough dressing to cover them. You won’t be using all of the dressing, so just add a little at a time, stirring between additions, until the vegetables are coated. Add bacon and blue cheese, toss again, garnish with green onions and serve immediately. (Cabbage salad is almost always best served and eaten fresh, and this is especially true when it comes to tomatoes and cheese.)