[Every home should have at least one recipe for a perfect, classic Creamy Coleslaw. I’m guessing this will become yours, too. Creamy Coleslaw is vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, egg free, soy-free, optionally nut-free, yeast-free, and low glycemic. Suitable for all stages (when made without fruit) on an anti-candida diet.]
Whenever a magazine or website features an interview with one of my favorite chefs, I’m always fascinated by how s/he answers the question, “What do you eat at home?”
For the most part, it seems like the more elaborate their public creations, the more basic their fare at home. Before I began creating recipes on a regular basis, I’d read those interviews and think, “Yeah, sure.” But as time has gone by and I’m now coming up on my 10th year as a blogger and recipe developer (What?!!), I’ve come to understand exactly the impetus behind keeping it simple at home.
If you think about it, professional chefs spend their entire work days creating and cooking. So when they get home, they want to kick off their aprons and toques and just relax–they don’t want to think about whether their dishes are “magazine worthy” or “cookbook worthy” at home.
In my case, much of what I create in the kitchen gets sorted according to whether it can be shared with my Sweet Life club or whether it fits my next cookbook. If a new recipe comes out great and I love it, it goes on the list. But since my creative kitchen time these days is limited, our own meals mostly depend on classics and old reliables that we’ve made countless times before.
Plus, with over 800 recipes now on the blog (What?!!?), I can honestly say that I sometimes forget some of what I’ve posted before! So, searching through older recipes and and using them again is actually kind of fun. Besides, the HH always complains about how I’ll serve a recipe a few times (during the recipe development), he’ll fall in love with it–and then never see it again (sorry, fella, gotta move along to the next one!). At least this way, he gets to revisit some of his previous favorites, too.
Enter this Creamy Coleslaw. Today’s recipe is actually an update of one I posted way back in 2008 (Wha–AAATT???!!), when this site was basically just a toddler on the blogging scene. In those early days, I made this recipe regularly, exactly as written in the original, but forgot about it once I began the ACD in earnest. I figured it was time for an update.
I first tasted this coleslaw way back in my 20s, when my college room mate’s older sister made it for us. It was the first coleslaw in which I encountered fruit (dried raisins), and I was instantly smitten. In those days, I made the dressing with a combination of plain yogurt and mayonnaise, and this updated version contains both as well in dairy-free form. The yogurt provides a lovely tang and added probiotics to the dish, along with the soft sweetness of chewy golden berries and juicy crispness of the fresh cabbage. Toasted walnuts round it out for a bit of savory touch.
All together, it’s refreshing, satisfying and, finally, suitable for almost any diet.
Dilly Coleslaw with Golden Berries and Walnuts
This slaw makes a perfect side dish for a BBQ, as a great partner to classic potato salad or as a light lunch on its own. The fresh dill adds some unexpected zest to this classic salad as well.
1/2 small cabbage, shredded or sliced into thin shreds (about 5 cups/1250 ml)
1 large carrot, grated
1/2 cup (120 ml) dried goldenberries or goji berries (for Stage 1, replace with more nuts or seeds)
1/2 cup (120 ml) walnut pieces, lightly toasted (for nut-free, use sunflower seeds)
1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh dill, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup (60 ml) unsweetened dairyfree yogurt (can be homemade or store bought)
1/2 cup (120 ml) vegan mayonnaise (can be homemade or store bought)
2 tsp (10 ml) fresh lemon juice
Fine sea salt, to taste
5-10 drops pure plain stevia liquid, or to taste
In a salad bowl, toss together cabbage, carrot, berries and walnuts.
In a small bowl, mix together dill, yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt and stevia. Pour over vegetables and toss to coat. Allow to sit for at least 20 minutes for flavors to meld, or refrigerate for 2-4 hours before serving. Makes 6 servings.
Suitable for: ACD All stages (without fruit); refined sugar-free, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, egg free, soy-free, yeast-free, vegan, low glycemic.
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I’m rather confused with certain recipes especially one like this. I’ve read that you can’t have fruit and this includes dried goldenberries as well as carrots.
Hi Sara–you’re absolutely right, stage one doesn’t include fruit (or includes only a very few fruits), while dried fruit is reserved for stage 3 or later in the diet I followed. Thanks for pointing this out–there was supposed to be a note added to make the recipe stage-one compliant (I’ve added it now; just replace the dried fruit with more nuts or seeds). So sorry for the error–fixed now! I’ve never heard carrots referred to as a fruit, though. Some diets allow them and some don’t; mine does. 🙂