I know I’ve said it before, ad nauseam in fact, but I love dishes I can prepare ahead for special dinners with family and/or friends. There is just something about waking up on the day of the planned event having at least part of the meal happily residing in my refrigerator or on a counter. OK, I still feel a bit of panic, but it is soon offset by remembering that I have at least one if not some of the preparation already completed. (And at my age, every little bit helps.)

So recently when I was planning to serve Mexican food to 38 people, I realized most of the dishes I wanted to serve would have to be fixed ahead. And I knew I wanted to serve a coleslaw, both for color and crunch.

Now most of my coleslaw recipes you can cut the veggies ahead, and you can prepare the dressing ahead, but you shouldn’t combine the two parts until just before you plan to serve. But I wanted a coleslaw that could be made ahead, in fact, one that would profit by spending some quality time in cold storage. So I went online. (Of course I did!) And found a recipe on The Kitchen Magpie site. As usual, I changed the ingredients a bit, but not in any radical manner.

So all I can say now is that if you like coleslaw, this is a recipe which should be given special attention. It is crazy delicious and very simple to assemble. And you can make it the day before you want to serve it! (I keep coming back to that salient feature, but I’m old, so cut me some slack.)

Anyway – just make this salad. It’s yum!

1/3 c. fresh lime juice

½ tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. honey

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

½ c. extra virgin olive oil

½ head green cabbage, very thinly sliced

½ head red cabbage, very thinly sliced  

1½ c. grated carrot

4-5 very thinly sliced green onions

¼ c. chopped cilantro

1 T. chopped Italian parsley

Shake the lime juice, cumin, honey, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil together in a small covered jar. 

Toss the green cabbage, red cabbage, carrot, green onions, cilantro, and parsley together in a salad bowl.

Pour the dressing over the cabbage mixture and toss together until the veggies are completely covered in dressing. If time allows, cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight for best results. Toss again just before serving.