Introduction: AwesomeSlaw Dressing
We got a bag of chopped cabbage and carrots to make coleslaw with, only to discover that we did not have enough dressing on hand to make the slaw. When I glanced at the ingredients on the jar, they top items were vinegar, eggs,oil and some other things that sounded suspiciously mostly like vinegar and mayonnaise.
Guess what? That's all that basic coleslaw dressing is!
According to this rather fascinating story about coleslaw on National Public Radio (NPR) coleslaw in its original manifestations in Rome consisted of cabbage, vinegar, eggs and spices.Later on, Dutch immigrants introduced America to koosla - literally cabbage salad.
The article has some great insights about homemade vs store bought coleslaw, and some terrific looking recipes. But for our purposes here, this dressing is intended to act as a base, from which variations can easily be adapted, and you can save a few bucks in the process.
Step 1: Ingredients
For your basic slaw dressing, you'll need:
- Mayonnaise
- Apple cider vinegar
- spices
And either a bag of chopped cabbage, or even better, chop your own!
Step 2: Measure Out Ingredients
I like vinegar, so this version is a little heavy on the vinaigrette side. I used
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup of mayonnaise
- 1/4 tspn pepper
- 1/4 tspn onion powder
- 1/2 tspn Mrs. Dash Table Blend seasoning
Step 3: Stir Together
Stir it all together until you have a nice creamy dressing.
Taste and adjust as needed, if it's too much or too little of something you'd prefer to have more or less of.
You can also add additional flavorings at this time, like crush pineapple or ginger.
Step 4: Mix & Serve
Mix the desired amount of dressing into the desired amount of cabbage base that you'd like, plate up and serve!
You can store the remaining part of your dressing in a container, but I'd recommend using it up within the week.
Enjoy your slaw!