 Here's a great slaw recipe with a twist: Inspiration from the famous Waldorf salad. The original Waldorf salad, made with lettuce, was invented in 1896 by Oscar Tschirky, the dining room manager at the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue in New York City. Known as "Oscar of the Waldorf", Tschirky also is credited with inventing Veal Oscar. This riff on the classic uses cabbage and it is crisp, delicate, crunchy, sweet and sour, and downright addictive.
Yield. About 12 servings
Preparation time. 30 minutes
Let it sit. Let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour if possible.
Ingredients for the slaw
1 pound green cabbage (about half a head)
3 large carrots, peeled
6 scallions, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped (about 2 medium stalks with leaves removed)
1 crunchy apple
1/2 cup walnuts (in a pinch you can substitute pecans)
1/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1 small green jalapeno
Ingredients for the dressing
1/3 cup white sugar
3/4 cup natural (unseasoned) rice wine vinegar *
1/4 cup vegetable or corn oil
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper
* Note. Rice wine vinegar is not hard to find. Most groceries carry it. Some are seasoned and some are not. Get the unseasoned if possible, but the seasoned will do.
Do this
1) First, read my article on The Zen of Slawsome Slaw.
2) Chop or shred the cabbage.
3) Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a large bowl.
4) Slice the jalapeno in half and remove the seeds. If you wish, you can also remove the white ribs, where most of the heat hides. Slice into thin slivers. Add to the dressing. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling hot peppers or better still, wear gloves or use a paper towel when doing the cutting. If you do not wear gloves, be sure not to rub your eyes, or touch any other moist parts of your body, or any one else's.
5) Add the rest of the salad ingredients except the apple and the nuts. Toss thoroughly.
6) Don't chop the apple until this stage of the prep or it will turn brown. It will not brown when coated with the dressing. Core and chop the apple into chunks about 1/4 inch. Leave the skin on. Add to the rest of the salad and toss.
7) Taste and adjust the salt, pepper, vinegar, and anything else you wish to suit your taste. Chill for one hour to extract the flavors from the celery seeds and vegetables and to allow them to marry.
8) Warm the walnuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for five minutes, until the meat starts to brown slightly. This brings the oils to the surface. Add them to the salad just before serving. If you add them too early in the process, they will get soggy.
This page revised 6/6/07
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