Coleslaw

Salting is not optional

Cabbage is around 92% water and it will release that water into your dressing over the following hour whether you plan for it or not. Salting draws it out first, by osmosis, so the dressing stays a dressing rather than becoming a thin liquid at the bottom of the bowl.

Thirty minutes is the minimum and an hour is better. Squeeze firmly — you should get a surprising amount of liquid out — and do not rinse, or you remove the seasoning along with the water.

The coleslaw dressing

The three-to-two mayonnaise-to-yogurt split is a deliberate compromise. All mayonnaise is richer and heavier, and the slaw tastes of dressing rather than cabbage; all yogurt is sharp and thin and separates. The mustard is an emulsifier as much as a flavor, holding the two together.

To cut the calories further, shift the ratio toward yogurt and add a teaspoon of honey to compensate for the lost richness. At full yogurt the slaw comes in around 40 kcal a serving instead of 80.

Asian coleslaw dressing

For an Asian-style slaw, leave out the mayonnaise, yogurt and mustard and shake together this dressing instead:

• 3 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp neutral oil, such as canola or avocado
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 small clove garlic, finely grated

Use it on the salted cabbage and carrots, with a mix of green and red cabbage or napa cabbage if you have it. Add 3 sliced green onions, a handful of chopped cilantro and 1 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds. Chopped roasted peanuts are good too, added just before serving so they stay crunchy. Without the peanuts, a serving has about 115 kcal, with 8 g of fat and 11 g of carbohydrate. Because there is no mayonnaise, it keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge.

Coleslaw for fish tacos

A taco slaw should be fine, crunchy and sharp, to cut the fried or broiled fish. Shred the cabbage as thin as you can, or use a mandoline. In the dressing, replace the cider vinegar with 2 tbsp of lime juice, and add 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro and 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced. Use a little less dressing than for a side dish: the slaw is a topping, and it should not drip. Put the tacos together just before eating. It goes well with baked tilapia flaked into warm corn tortillas.

Coleslaw for pulled pork sandwiches

On a pulled pork sandwich, the slaw goes inside the bun, on top of the meat. A vinegar slaw works better there than a creamy one: the sharpness cuts the rich pork and the sweet barbecue sauce, and it does not turn the bun soggy as fast. Shred or chop the cabbage finely so it stays on the sandwich. In place of the creamy dressing, whisk together:

• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp Dijon or yellow mustard
• 1/2 tsp celery seed, and black pepper

Let it sit at least an hour before serving, so the cabbage softens a little and takes up the dressing. A serving has about the same calories as the creamy version, about 80 kcal.

Variations

• Broccoli instead of cabbage: blanched florets in a yogurt dressing make our broccoli salad.
• Red cabbage for color, though it will bleed into the dressing within an hour.
• Apple, julienned, added just before serving so it does not brown.
• Celery seed, the classic American slaw seasoning, or caraway, which pushes it toward the central European version.
• No mayonnaise at all: the vinegar slaw in the pulled pork section above keeps far longer than a creamy one.

Keeping it

Two days at most with a creamy dressing, and it is best in the first few hours. A vinegar-based slaw keeps a week and genuinely improves after a day.

What it is worth nutritionally

The cabbage and carrot are close to free in calorie terms; about 50 of the 80 kcal is the dressing. That is the useful thing to know about coleslaw generally — it is a vegetable dish whose nutrition is decided almost entirely by what you dress it with.