Tangy Coleslaw

Cut into several manageable sections and grate in food processor:

1 small to medium head cabbage, core stem and trim off outer leaves
2 trimmed and peeled carrots

Transfer above to large mixing bowl and add:
½ cup raisins

optional: one cooking (tart) apple with peel, such as Grannie Smith, Cortland or MacIntosh,
cored and cut into small pieces



Dressing:

½ C vegetable oil
¼ C red wine vinegar
1 TLBS sugar or 2 packets Splenda
2 tsp horseradish (4 tsp if you want to really taste the horseradish)
1 tsp brown mustard
1/8 tsp celery salt
salt and pepper

In a medium bowl stir all ingredients with a wisp until thoroughly mixed. Add to coleslaw ingredients. Stir together until coleslaw ingredients are saturated with dressing. Chill in refrigerator for about an hour before serving.

Serving suggestions: This is a great side dish to seafood and perhaps a baked potato.. It adds contrast - acidity, sweetness, and crunchiness to the unique flavors and soft textures of fish or other seafood.

FOODNOTES: Coleslaw is one of those things that most of us are willing to purchase in the deli section of the grocery store rather than go to the bother and mess of making it at home. My husband had asked me many times over the years to make coleslaw from scratch. I insisted that it was too much work and not worth the effort. One morning when I was feeling inspired to make up a bunch of salads and other dishes that we could eat that day, with enough for a couple meals during the week or food we could freeze and heat up later, I decided to buy a head of cabbage for homemade coleslaw. From other dishes, such as potato salad, I knew that oil and vinegar could replace the cholesterol laden, creamy mayonnaise dressing that is most common to pre-made coleslaws, so I made an oil and vinegar based dressing with the flavors that I thought were basic to coleslaw and that would enhance a plain head of cabbage.

This did take a little time to prepare and I did have shreds of cabbage and carrot peels to clean up, but it was fun and exciting to see how this would end up and it was definitely worth the effort. I was amazed at how the cabbage, when shredded in the food processor, seemed to shrink down to a very small amount of coleslaw, even with the added ingredients. After sampling a heaping tablespoon full once it was prepared I then proceeded to eat (I don't want to admit how much), let's just a lot more of it before it found its way to the refrigerator. We did enjoy it during the week. In fact, the very last serving was consumed ten days later, still as crisp and delicious as that first spoonful.

I estimated the total time it took to make the coleslaw was about a half hour. For the amount it made, which is a lot more than I would ever purchase, this saved me approximately 75% of the cost of purchasing ready-made coleslaw and it tastes so much better than the bought kind. Compared to the heavy mayonnaise-based coleslaws this recipe possesses a light, more delicate flavor due to the simple oil and vinegar dressing. There is always such a sense of satisfaction in making my own and this sense is heightened when it is shared with others who appreciate my efforts and tell me what they think about it. If you decide to make this I'm certain your experience will be similar to mine. I, at least, hope so!