Fresh cabbage makes for better summer salad
Cool, make-ahead summer cabbage salads are a snappy way for making summer cookouts complete.
Cole slaw often gets a bad rap because premade versions at grocery stores and restaurants have too much dressing, or the cabbage is shredded too finely. The result is a mushy, runny side dish with little flavor.
When done right, a cabbage salad has crunch and color from both the green and red varieties as well as other ingredients. I also prefer slicing and chopping fresh cabbage over using a bag of shredded cabbage.
The prepped bags of cabbage usually are shredded smaller than I like, and the cabbage is dry and flavorless. Freshly cut cabbage holds its crunch longer, even when chilled for several hours or served as leftovers the next day.
Following is a sweet, tangy and creamy salad that goes well with steaks, pulled pork, smoked brisket or ribs or grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. The recipe is an update of Cabbage-Pineapple Slaw from the cookbook “Yesterday’s-Today’s-Tomorrow’s Cooking” (1973) by Anna Kubacak of Slaton, Texas.
My changes include replacing the canned crushed pineapple with fresh and eliminating the marshmallows. I also added dried dill and celery seed and recommend a quality fruit balsamic vinegar.
The cabbage salad works as a side dish with a barbecue sandwich or hamburger. It’s got flavor, crunch and texture, which combine for an appealing
counterbalance to grilled meats.
For an updated summer cookout, serve the salad in a bowl with a pile of pulled pork on top.