We were smoking ribs last night and I had a big ole head of purple cabbage from my Pitchfork and Crow CSA farm share. It is hard to get Mark to eat cabbage and even harder to get him to eat cole slaw. Neither one of us can abide mayonnaise unless it is homemade. Then I remembered, I subscribe to a blog that had a no mayo cole slaw recipe. It is from my friend Mary Cressler at Vindulge.
I started off ready to follow the recipe and of course changed it. I didn’t have white cabbage, no worries, there was purple cabbage a’plenty. I don’t like raw onion, even red ones, but omitting them meant I needed something sweet. Adding honey mustard to the sauce did the trick. And of course there were other things in my farm basket that had to make there way into my no mayo cole slaw. So in went fennel and cilantro for an herby touch.
Mary’s cabbage is perfectly grated and beautiful. I have a cold and even on a good day I HATE to climb to the top shelf, pull down the mandolin, assemble it, and then have to hand wash and dry before storing. While not quite as nice of a presentation, a knife and cutting board got me by. I totally stole Mary’s apple cider vinegar and cumin combo.
The real test was Mark. He seemed to be crunching away happily, but I thought I should ask. He LOVED the no mayo cole slaw. Thank goodness because I have a lot of cabbage left. It was a welcome, fresh side for the smoked ribs.
I thought I would take a picture of the ribs for you. I am not an award winning food photographer like Mary. My rib picture just looked kind of brown and we were so hungry. In fact the ribs looked more interesting after we ate every morsel of sweet smoked goodness.
Mary’s ribs. Once we start pulling ribs apart there’s no time for pictures.
I call this “Ribs: The Aftermath” There’s a reason that knife and fork look clean.
Here’s the No Mayo Cole Slaw recipe just in time for 4th of July grilling and here is the link to Mary’s Easiest Ever Mayo Free Cole Slaw
- 1 cup chopped purple cabbage
- 1 small carrot grated
- 2 Tbs chopped fresh fennel fronds
- 2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ⅛ tsp pepper
- 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
- ½ Tbs honey mustard
- ¼ Tbs cumin
- Toss, serve, crunch.
Also if you want a wine pairing, and sorry this really only applies if you are in Willamette Valley or want to order online, consider Patriot RED from Eola Hills Wine Cellars. It is a well balanced, fruit forward (black raspberry), easy to drink wine that would be perfect for July 4th. I mean just look at the label. Plus for every bottle purchased Eola Hills Wine Cellars will donate $1 to a fund to send care packages to American troops stationed overseas. Sample.
Read more about Mary and her husband, Sean Martin, at Nachos and Syrah and visit Ember and Vine for more info on their Portland, Oregon based BBQ business.
So awesome to hear you made the cole slaw 🙂 Thanks for the love! And you’re a smart gal for leaving that mandolin where it belongs, way up high. The first time I used mine I nearly cut my finger off! Rookie mistake, but was a good lesson. A good knife is a much safer way to go. Loved the additions you made to the slaw, like the fennel fonds (sounds awesome!)! And I’m a huge honey mustard fan. Could put it on anything. Yum!!
Thanks for saving my purple cabbage that was destined to languish in the back of my fridge until it got soft and spotted. I almost traded it for more fennel until I remembered your recipe. Mark wants more ribs this weekend so there will more slaw. He is calling it “ribageddon.”
Lovely coleslaw – I’m not a huge raw onion fan so this is perfect! The ribs look amazing too!