I am often asked to bring coleslaw to a gathering. And I just realized why that is. Because I make coleslaw that has flavor.

I can’t tell you how many times when I am dining in a restaurant, I order a meal that comes with coleslaw. And either there is no dressing to speak of on the cabbage, or the dressing is so flavorless that it can’t even be detected. And I always wonder to myself, “what in the heck is so hard about making a tasty coleslaw”? The basic ingredients for coleslaw are simple and the dressing is easy to make. So, what’s the problem?

Now granted, not everyone likes coleslaw. My husband included. But he will usually take a bite or two and not complain. But given the choice, he would probably never let coleslaw cross his lips. But I don’t give him any choice because I happen to love coleslaw. So, I make it every so often. And if he doesn’t want to leave the table unsatiated, he has figured out that he might as well put some of this salad filled with cruciferous veggies on his plate. (It’s called – grin and bear it!)

But for me, it’s pure pleasure when the coleslaw is good.

Now the dressing for this coleslaw is not sweet. It has a teaspoon of honey in the dressing, more for the flavor than for the sweetness it provides. But I have other coleslaw recipes on this site that include sugar, if that is the type of coleslaw you prefer. Me, I like them all. Not every day. But often enough to keep Mr. C. a little nervous! (If only he could learn to love cabbage. But at his ripe old age, that just isn’t going to happen. Just like asking me to eat a parsnip or rutabaga. Haven’t let one pass my lips since I was a child and intend to keep it that way. Thank you very much!)

So, all I ask is that you give homemade coleslaw a try. It’s inexpensive to make. It’s crunchy. (And who doesn’t appreciate crunchy food.) And relatively healthy. And it can be made ahead. (Bonus points for that!)

Well, the sun is shining here in northwestern Washington. There is a bit of a cloud cover over the Cascade Mountains, so not all the snowy peaks are in view. But that’s OK. All of them will eventually grace us with their beauty when they are darn good and ready to do so!

In the meantime, flowering shrubs and other plants in our yard are perfuming the air and showing off their colorful blossoms. And a wide variety of birds seem to be happy spending time in our neighborhood. First, they visit Mark and Vicki’s back deck for a bit of sustenance. Then they come to our front yard for a peck or two of suet cake. Then it’s off they fly to one of our fountains for a quick bath and some liquid refreshment. Then it’s time to start over in Mark and Vicki’s yard. (Not a bad life when you think about it!)

May you too enjoy all the wonders our incredible planet has to offer.

Peace and love to all.

4-5 c. finely shredded cabbage (I use a combination of red and green cabbage)

1 lg. carrot, grated

1 stalk celery, finely diced (include the leaves)

½ c. mayonnaise

1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 T. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. honey, opt.

½ tsp celery seeds

½ tsp. kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper  

Place the shredded cabbage, carrot, and celery in a large bowl and toss to mix.

In a separate bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, honey, celery seeds, salt, and pepper together.   

Pour some of the dressing over the veggies and mix together. If the coleslaw seems dry, add a little more of the dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning.  

   

OK, this has to be one of the easiest salads I have ever made. While at the same time, one of the best salads I have ever eaten. First of all, we love arugula. Arugula’s flavor is peppery, spicy, and a bit nutty, which makes sense considering it’s in the same family as mustard greens. And as for nutrition, arugula has been recognized to be full of antioxidants which protect against or reverse damage to our cells. These natural substances give arugula its slightly peppery taste and may also protect against certain cancers, including breast, prostate, lung, and colin cancers. Arugula may also fight inflammation. It also contains vitamin K, which is good for your bones and may help prevent osteoporosis. So, bottom line, what’s not to like?

Now, until recently, I have only used arugula as one of a mixture of greens for my salads. But a couple months ago we were having dinner at our good friends Jim and Margo’s home, and they served arugula salad. It was so good that right there and then I decided to embrace the fact that not only is arugula delicious all by itself, but it also comes pre-washed in a nice plastic container. (That I already knew and treasured, being the indolent gal I have become of late!)

But I had never thought to serve it as the only green in a salad. And OK, this salad has a bit of fresh parsley in it, so technically arugula is not the only green ingredient that is terribly healthy for us in this recipe. But for all practical purposes, this is still an arugula salad.

And for this recipe we all have Erin Clarke of wellplated.com to thank. And I must say, this simple salad dressing is one of the best balsamic vinegar recipes I have ever made. And by far, the easiest! And it would also be perfect on a spinach salad or drizzled over sliced heirloom tomatoes. Or basically whenever a balsamic vinegar dressing would be appropriate.

Well, that’s it for today. Except to remind you that if you plan to make this wonderful dressing, please use good balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and fresh lemon juice. And I know. Good balsamic vinegar is expensive. And juicing a fresh lemon can be a drag. But even using the best ingredients you can afford to make homemade salad dressings is cheaper than buying bottled salad dressing at the store. And ever so much tastier and without those annoying preservatives that no one can pronounce anyway.

Although I’ve been thinking lately that maybe the reason my face is now covered with so many wrinkles is that I have always prepared most of the food we consume from scratch. Maybe I should embrace prepared foods that contain masses of preservatives. Perhaps my shelf life might actually be lengthened if I did so. I must give this idea some consideration.

In the meantime, peace, and love to all. And do make this salad. It is simply amazing!  

Balsamic Lemon Dressing:

2 T. fresh lemon juice

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 T. good balsamic vinegar

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Shake together in a lidded jar. Store in your refrigerator.

Salad:

2-3 c. baby arugula, roughly chopped

2 T. sunflower seeds

1 T. chopped fresh parsley

¼ c. shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano

Place arugula in a salad bowl. Toss with some of the dressing. Then top with sunflower seeds and fresh parsley. Drizzle the rest of the dressing overall or save in the fridge for another time. Garnish with shaved Parm.  

Other additives that you might enjoy in this salad include apple or pear slices or chopped walnuts or almonds instead of sunflower seeds.

And again, thank you Erin for this wonderful recipe.

 

(Sorry, there’s no picture, but I forgot to take one. My bad!)

There is just something about building your own salad dressing that totally appeals to me. First of all, the frugal gal in me loves saving money whenever possible. Of course, I also love spending money, but that’s a subject for another time!

But when it comes to salad dressing, I’m completely in favor of spending good money on extra virgin olive oil, really great balsamic vinegar, top notch Dijon mustard, shallots, fresh lemons, fresh garlic, etc. etc. Because however much I spend on the ingredients, I am invariably going to come out ahead on both flavor and money spent if I build the dressing myself. Not that there aren’t good tasting salad dressing available in our local grocery stores. But like I have said many times before, who needs some of the ingredients in bottled dressing that have as many letters in their name as supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!  

But, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, an adjective BTW, means extraordinarily good; wonderful. (Don’t believe me, look it up!) Whereas, some of the long, unpronounceable words in the ingredient list for bottled salad dressings, are not necessarily good for us. And believe it or not, I did some research on this subject. And I learned that my instincts regarding bottled dressing and other processed foods was spot on. So, what did I learn.

Bottled dressings are generally loaded with chemical and artificial additives which are considered by governmental agencies to be safe in small quantities. (Great! In small quantities, we should be OK?) That salad dressings are usually formulated using substandard cheap ingredients like low quality oil, contain more sugar or high fructose corn syrup than is necessary, way too much salt, and often include flavor enhancers. (Why would you need a flavor enhancer if really good oil and vinegar were part of the equation?) Anyway, I’m sure by now you understand why I make my own dressings. And speaking of salad dressing, this simple to prepare honey balsamic dressing is fabulous.

I have actually used it twice now on 2 different salads. Which, because I love each and every one of you, I am also going to share the salad recipes with you at the bottom of this post. Plus, recipes for my super simple way to fix Oven Roasted Beets and the best Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans you will ever taste!You’re welcome!

Well, that’s it for today. It is still terribly smokey here from regional wildfires. The weathercaster has promised a 90% chance of rain for tomorrow, so I am keeping my eyes and fingers crossed.   

On a serious note, please remember to vote in the upcoming election. We are truly at a crossroads here in America. Our democratic way of life seems to be slowly eroding. So, please do your part and vote. It’s the least any of us can do.

And as always, peace and love to all.

2 T. honey

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 T. Dijon mustard

½ tsp. fine sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

rounded ¼ tsp. granulated garlic  

¼ c. good balsamic vinegar

¾ c. extra virgin olive oil

Whisk or shake together. Store in fridge. Bring to room temperature before using.

Salad Recipe #1

Balsamic Vinegar and Honey Vinaigrette dressed greens with Oven Roasted Beets, Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans, crumbled feta cheese, and red onion

4-5 c. chopped romaine

1-2 c. mixed greens

½ c. chopped red onion

1 c. Oven Roasted Beets, diced

¾ c. crumbled feta cheese

½ c. Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans, or more to taste

Balsamic Vinegar and Honey Vinaigrette, to taste

Place the romaine, greens, red onion, beets, feta cheese, and pecans in a large salad bowl. Add just enough dressing to coat the veggies. Serve immediately.

Salad Recipe #2

Broccoli Salad with Balsamic Vinegar and Honey Vinaigrette and Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans  

4-5 c. chopped fresh broccoli

⅓ c. finely chopped red onion

3-4 T. Balsamic Vinegar and Honey Vinaigrette

½ – ¾ c. Sweet and Spicy Glazed Pecans

Place the broccoli in a mixing bowl. Add red onion and enough vinaigrette to coat the veggies. (You don’t need a lot of dressing.) Stir in the pecans and serve immediately.

SWEET AND SPICY GLAZED PECANS:

½ c. powdered sugar

¾ tsp. kosher salt

scant ½ tsp. cayenne pepper

4 tsp. water

2 c. pecans halves

In a medium sized bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, and water together.  

Add the pecans and stir until the nuts are evenly coated.

Transfer the pecans to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Make sure the nuts are evenly spread out. (If they are clumped together, they won’t cook evenly). Scrape out any remaining glaze from the bowl and drizzle over the nuts.

Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 14-15 minutes, or until the pecans are caramelized and the caramel on the baking sheet is a rich brown color. (The nuts around the edges will darken first so watch closely so they don’t burn.)

Remove from oven and immediately slide the parchment paper off of the hot baking sheet. (This stops the nuts from continuing to bake.) Allow the pecans to cool completely. Once cool, remove the pecans from the parchment, breaking apart any clusters if necessary, and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Note: If the nuts are sticky after cooling, that means the glaze coating is not fully cooked. Pop them back in the oven for a few minutes and let cool again.

OVEN ROASTED BEETS

beets (your choice of color)

extra-virgin olive oil

fine sea salt

Preheat your oven to 375-degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Scrub the beets really well under running water. (No need to peel the beets at any point).

Slice off the base and pointy end of each beet. Cut the beets in half. Then slice the halves into half rounds ½ to ¾-inch thick.

Place the beet pieces on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with just enough olive oil to coat the pieces, then arrange in a single layer across the pan. Sprinkle the top side of each piece with a bit of salt.  

Roast for 30 minutes on the first side. Then flip and bake the second side for about 15 minutes. When done, you should be able to easily cut into each piece with a paring knife.

Remove from oven and either eat immediately, store in your fridge for a couple of days, or freeze for later use. (Cooked beets freeze beautifully BTW.)

Great as a side veggie or as a great addition to salads.