If you’re looking for a cole slaw that’s easy, this is it. Tasty. Really tasty. Different. On the Asian side. I know, that’s kind of incongruous, isn’t it. Cole slaw? Asian? All I can do is encourage you to try this. The sesame oil, which gives the slaw that Asian slant, is barely perceptible, but enough that it does give it a totally different flavor.

The recipe comes from Chris Schlesinger’s Thrill of the Grill. He owns a renowned restaurant in Boston, and has done the cooking school circuit too. He taught a class in Pasadena many years ago, soon after his cookbook came out. I’d already bought it, and took the book along to ask for his autograph. He kindly signed it with a flourish and asked me a question I’ve wished I could go back in time to answer. With a big grin on his face, he said “what’s your favorite recipe in my book?” Without a thought, I said, “the Asian Slaw.” He gave me a face. Disappointment? Oh, yes. Here’s this nice cookbook filled with grilled meat, poultry and fish recipes (with just a few side dishes) and I tell him my favorite recipe is a cole slaw. Duh. My only defense was that I hadn’t owned the book for very long. Lame, still.

Shortly after that cooking class I tried another recipe of his from the same book that has become one of my signature dishes. Well, it’s his dish, but I’ve made it so many times for guests that people associate the dish with me. Fact is, I’ve served it to everybody I know and feel like I can’t serve it to guests anymore. I’ll post that another day (it’s a grilled salmon on a watercress salad).

This slaw salad is great with a simple grilled dinner. I try to chop up the cabbage fairly small, and I usually use a combination of green and red cabbage because it’s more attractive. It can’t take more than 15 minutes to put together, and you serve it immediately. This does not want to sit in wait because the red cabbage bleeds into the entire salad – in fact you can prepare all the ingredients ahead, but don’t mix it up until just before serving. This one is low calorie, low fat, low carbs, but it’s very high on the satisfaction and flavor department.
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The summer of 1989, I was reading the Los Angeles Times food section, and this recipe jumped out and said “fix me, fix me.” It’s a Paul Prudhomme recipe – he had written the short article about it, and said this was a family favorite, especially for outdoor, barbecue dinners. That’s exactly what I use it for, and have done so multiple times over those ensuing years. I’ve made a few changes to it. The original called for bok choy. I use Napa Cabbage instead. And I use my own combination of beans – usually whatever I happen to have on the pantry shelf. Additionally, bacon was added on top, when served. I eliminated that because it was just fine without it. If stored for a day, the bacon gets limp and wet – not very appetizing.

It’s really quite easy to make, although it does take some assembly time, and some prepping of the vegies. But the bulk of it is canned beans – a variety of them, and you whisk up the dressing and pour over. The dressing is mostly vinegar – cider vinegar – and you’d think that with vinegar as the main ingredient, you’d have a hard time eating it. Not so. Once it sits for a while, something chemical happens when you pour acid and oil over carbs. It mellows the beans and completely eliminates the acidity of the vinegar. It just leaves a little tang and permeates the entire salad. It must be left to marinate for at least several hours, though, so don’t be tempted to eat it right away. Otherwise that chemical action doesn’t have time to occur. Although this probably is used mostly as a side kind of salad, it also can make the meal itself. It’s satisfying enough. It has some protein with all the beans, and it’s filling. It’s the dressing that makes it special. It keeps for a few days, but then the Napa cabbage begins to wilt significantly, so eat it up within 2-3 days after preparation.

And I want you to pay attention to the fat content this time – it’s almost nil. Note that there are only 2 T. of oil in the entire salad to serve 12. I highly recommend this.
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I’d forgotten about this salad and how much I love it until last weekend when I went to Joan’s daughter’s home to greet their newly adopted infant, and Joan had made it as part of a lovely luncheon. Joan is rather “famous” for this salad – it’s one other people request too, not just me. We used to have season tickets to our local summer symphony series, and we’ve had many a picnic dinner on the lawn at the amphitheater, and every time Joan and Tom would attend I requested she make this. And she graciously gave the recipe to several people. So, thanks very much, Joan. I needed a salad for an outdoor dinner, and this just fit the bill.

Nothing about it is hard. It probably takes about 40 minutes to make it, including boiling the pasta. Be sure to not overcook the pasta. You don’t have to use penne, but that’s the way Joan makes it, and that’s the type I prefer too. You can add more sun-dried tomatoes if you wish – her recipe calls for 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup. I used 1/4. And our basil plant is proliferating, so I pruned it back for this salad. The basil is crucial in my opinion. It also will keep a few days, although it’s best the day it’s made.
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I’m always looking for different ways to serve vegetables or sides for warm, summer barbecue dinners. I must have been watching Bobby Flay last summer when he prepared this. I made it right away and liked it a LOT. It’s not difficult to prepare, although you do have to bake (or cook somehow) the sweet potatoes, then you pare them, slice and grill them, along with the green onions, then make the dressing and toss it together. It can be served hot, room temp or chilled, and it keeps for about a week.
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I saw Ina Garten demonstrate this on her food network program, probably 2 years ago. It’s from her book, Barefoot Contessa at Home. Maybe the peas and spinach seem like an unlikely combination, but it sure works. Over the years I’ve used pesto in pasta dishes, of course, and to dollop on the top of certain soups, and as a dip, but never would have considered it as a salad dressing. I had some homemade pesto in the refrigerator, so this was a simple dish to throw together. Trader Joe’s carries a baby spinach, which is preferable here. Regular spinach is just too big for a salad – the pieces are too large without cutting them. I suppose you could do that, but the baby spinach just makes it so simple. I do tear off some of the larger stems, but most of them stay in the salad.

I find this salad goes so very well with a grilled dinner – chicken, steaks, pork chops, even fish. I hate to sound redundant, but this salad is SO simple. You just have to toast the pine nuts (I use a nonstick frying pan) and I caution you if you haven’t done this before – watch the pan very very carefully or they will burn. Pine nuts contain a high percentage of oil, so they burn very rapidly. I keep pine nuts in the freezer at all times, so just remove what you need for a meal.

And, the other thing I do is add more Parmesan cheese (that’s my addition to Ina’s recipe). Often, I believe, when you buy ready-made pesto, it doesn’t contain as much cheese as your own homemade variety, so I add some to the salad itself. It adds some color contrast too.
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A week or two ago I mentioned Hugh Carpenter, a very talented chef, author and restaurant consultant. I think his name cropped up in the Los Angeles Times Food Section one year (this was back in the mid-80’s) because he was consulting with several new restaurants, helping them develop their menus and specifically the food. Back then he was really into Asian food, but was one of the early advocates of fusion – Asian fusion – Pan-Asian, or Pan-Californian. We zipped up to L.A. on several occasions to try the food in these restaurant establishments and were very interested in the food combinations and layers of flavor. He lives up in wine country, but must spend some time in L.A. So when Carpenter began teaching at the Bristol Farms facility in South Pasadena, I drove up there to take some classes. I was impressed. He’s a very engaging, entertaining guy, high energy and skinny as a rail. Still is. He must not eat a lot of the food he prepares, or else he’s one of those kind of guys who has a very natural high metabolism. His wife, Teri Sandison, was there with him, and we learned that she helped in the kitchen, but her angle was pottery. More than one of the Carpenter cookbooks contains nothing but his wife’s plates, platters, bowls, etc. and she’s listed as a co-author.

This recipe was from one of the classes, although it could have been from a more recent one rather than years ago. I’m not sure, nor do I know which of his cookbooks this is from. I’ve made it several times, and it seemed very appropriate today since we’re going to an afternoon barbecue with a group of friends. All I do know is that it’s tasty. I happen to love watercress. It has a peppery tang that dances on my tongue. It’s a little difficult to find these days . . . I don’t know why, but it is. The salad is different (because of the jicama, the watercress, and the abundance of pecans), crunchy (also because of the jicama), and the dressing is a cloud of flavor with every bite (unique because of fresh lime juice and honey). But you just gotta use the walnut or pecan oil. Under no circumstances should you substitute olive oil or even vegetable oil. Actually I don’t think I’ve ever seen pecan oil, but walnut oil isn’t too hard to find these days. Just remember to keep the oil in the refrigerator – it doesn’t have a long shelf life at room temp. Give yourself ample time for all the chopping and mincing. I think it takes about an hour from start to finish, but it’s good to chill everything before actually serving, so if possible, allow an extra hour for that.
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This could be another garlic post. But it’s not. Although there certainly is garlic in this dish. I think it’s the combination of garlic and lemon juice that gives it the tart and tangy flavor. The carrots, when cooked, become mellow, so it’s a perfect foil for the dressing.

I prefer this served cold or better yet, at room temperature. It will keep for at least a week, so I suggest doubling or tripling the recipe. You’ll be very glad to have some leftovers to serve at another meal.

On one California road trip I bought this cookbook: The Good Cook’s Book of Oil and Vinegar by Michele Anna Jordan (it’s no longer in print, but if you’re intrigued you can find a used copy). She focuses in on specifics about all kinds of oils and various vinegars, and she knows her stuff. I’ve used a number of recipes from the book over the years, but this is probably my favorite. And it’s easy. The toughest job is slicing the carrots. In the picture above I cut them much thicker than usual (note to self: re-read the recipe before I begin!). I prefer them when they are very thinly sliced, so use your mandoline or food processor slicing blade if you have one. The benefit of the thin slice is that more of the dressing permeates the carrots. And do give the carrots time to marinate in the dressing – it’s much better. And for goodness’ sake, don’t overcook the carrots. You don’t want to be eating carrot mush, and the thinner the carrot slices, the greater the risk of overcooking. Oh yes, I almost forgot, whatever you do, do not use those abominable “baby” carrots in the little bags. You know, don’t you, that those really are not baby carrots – they’re big carrots trimmed down to look like baby carrots. I prefer using young carrots, but even medium sized ones will work fine in this recipe.
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Since the 5th was Cinco de Mayo, I should have posted this then. Ah well. It’s really okay, because this salad could be made any day or month of the year in my book. This is the last recipe I’ll post from the Mexican cooking class Cherrie and I attended a couple of weeks ago. We agreed this salad was the stand-out of the dinner (Cherrie made it, I photographed it surreptitiously while our dinner guests were sitting in the dining room and we were plating up the dinner in the kitchen – this is a tricky thing I’m finding in foodie blogdom – how to photograph company meals while the guests are hanging around).

But, back to business – you need to love cilantro if you’re going to make this one. It could be a side salad, but ideally it would be best as a main dish salad. The instructor, Phillis Carey, suggested fresh shrimp or chicken as a protein add-in.

What’s different about this salad is that the dressing contains the cilantro, which is whizzed up in the blender, so you don’t know there’s cilantro there except that the dressing is nice bright greeny hue. But, because it’s pulverized in the blender, you need to use up the dressing within a day as cilantro begins to turn slimy within that time. So only make enough to use for the one salad. The salad itself could be your own combination of lettuces and fresh vegetables, but the instructor particularly talked about the corn, the jicama and the Feta cheese as important ingredients. The jicama gives the salad such a nice crunch. The corn is great for color, and the sheep’s milk Feta (not cow Feta, she said) gives a wonderful lightly salty taste. Cherrie added some crispy radishes to the mix also. Phillis indicated it’s the lime juice that makes this salad. Try it!
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