Cajun Coleslaw - Food for Freshers - learn to cook with Emily & Estella

We like having some homemade coleslaw on the go – it makes a great simple lunch or supper with some ham or cold meat, and of course is a great partner to pizza! We also like it in sandwiches or wraps. Cheddar & coleslaw and chicken & coleslaw sandwiches are particularly good. It’s also often on our buffet table for parties.

We like to make coleslaw with the classic combination of cabbage, onion and carrot. But you can use other vegetables if you prefer. Apple, fennel, radishes, broccoli or peppers all work well. We also like to use white cabbage as it is nice and sweet, but you can use green or red cabbage too – just choose a firm one.

We also like to spice our coleslaw up a bit. Today we added some pickled jalapeños and some sweet piquanté peppers – kindly gifted to us by our friends at Peppadew. We sometimes make a Mexican coleslaw, adding some even hotter peppers, but today we made it Cajun-style with some celery salt.

Coleslaw is also very easy & cheap to make. Even one small cabbage will make enough for days or to feed a lot of people! Today we just wanted enough to serve three people, generously, with a bit left over for the next day. So we just used half a cabbage. You also need a small onion – we use red for colour. Plus 2 or 3 carrots. Yes, there are 4 in the pictures, but that was a bit too much. So we ate one of them while cooking!

You can make both the coleslaw base and the dressing ahead. But don’t season the base, or add the dressing, until just before you are ready to serve.

Jake sticks his nose in

If you season or dress the coleslaw too soon it will draw liquid out of the vegetables and make your coleslaw too wet.

Start by prepping the cabbage. Cut it in half. Cabbage can be very hard, so be careful as your knife can slip. Using a serrated knife, like a bread knife, should make cutting it easier. remove the core and a few of the outer leaves.

Now shred the cabbage medium fine by slicing across it. Separate the strands out into your serving bowl.

Slice the onion, quite finely. See our onion Tip. Separate the slices and add to the bowl with the cabbage.

Now prepare the carrots. Cut off the tops and tails, then peel them. Cut into batons, then slice as finely as you can, into matchstick pieces.

Jake sticks his nose in

When you cut vegetables into thin batons it is called a ‘julienne’. You can, if you prefer, grate the carrot instead. This is easier, as cutting into a really fine julienne is fiddly. However, the texture of your coleslaw will not be as good. Use the coarsest side of your grater if you do.

Mix all the vegetables together. This is easiest with your hands.

Now prepare the chillies. We used pickled jalapeños for heat and sweet piquanté peppers for colour & sweetness. Slice or chop them into small pieces.

Add to the vegetables and mix well again. Your coleslaw base is done. If preparing ahead, cover with some kitchen paper and store in the fridge.

To make the dressing, add half a cup of sour cream (about 125ml) and half a cup of mayonnaise to a small bowl. We use lower fat mayo to make the dressing lighter.

Jake sticks his nose in

It’s worth investing in measuring cups if you plan to make a lot of American recipes. We’re not big fans of them in more accurate disciplines like baking, but we do like them for measuring liquids, or where you don’t need to be too precise, as in this dressing.

Now season with a scant teaspoon of celery salt, a shake of red Tabasco, and a large tablespoon of mustard. We use Dijon.

A nice tip is to also add some of the pickling liquid from each of the peppers to the dressing. We used about a scant tablespoon from each jar. Season the dressing with salt & black pepper, and give it a good stir. Cover & chill until you are ready to serve.