Mum's home-made coleslaw #recipe

I made a marvellous discovery when my children were small. They would (mostly) turn their noses up at the veg I offered at mealtimes but would happily wolf down a selection of raw vegetables in the form of coleslaw.



Obviously you can buy ready prepared coleslaw but it is very easy to make your own and you have the benefit of being able to adjust the flavour to your family's taste. And of course you earn bonus smug mother points when your little darlings eat something you have prepared.

My children like to add it to sandwiches, have it as a side with roast chicken drumsticks and corn on the cob, or as part of their favourite meal which we call "bits."

"Bits" normally includes salami or leftover meat from the sunday roast, hard boiled eggs, bread and butter, cheese, pate and pickles. It might also include cold sausages, pork pies or sausage rolls and if my daughter has begged pitifully, a portion of mozzarella sticks.

Coleslaw fits in beautifully with this mix and I love the colours when I combine cabbage, carrot and red onion.

Now I cannot take credit for this particular recipe. My mum makes the best ever coleslaw and this is completely ripped off from her. Thanks mum!

Ingredients (serves 6)
 1/4 white cabbage
1 medium red onion
2 large or 3 smaller carrots
2 tbsps salad cream
4 tbsps mayonnaisse
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
black pepper

Method

I use the long shredding blade on my food processor to shred cabbage wedges and the peeled red onion then switch to the grater for the carrots.  You can peel the carrots or just wash them thoroughly and top and tail them. I like my 'slaw quite chunky but obviously adjust the texture of the vegetables to the texture you like.

You can of course use a knife to create strips of vegetables to use in your coleslaw but the food processor takes seconds to create the mix. Yup. I'm a lazy cook.

Set aside in a sealed bag or covered bowl in the fridge until just before serving for the best results. You can make it ahead but if you do, occasionally the vegetables will leach water and make your coleslaw soggy.


When you are ready to eat it add salad cream, mayo, mustard, lemon juice and black pepper and store well to lightly coat the vegetables. Tweak the sauce ingredients and quantities to suit your own taste.

I know the salad cream is a throwback to the 70's but it really does give a unique tangy taste to the coleslaw and if you can get it wherever you live I would highly recommend trying it in your 'slaw.