By Special Request

I hadn't planned to post C's recipe for cabbage slaw both because it's dastardly simple and . . . well, I hadn't thought of it. After Beth specifically requested it, though, in order to perhaps recreate our Sloppy Joe extravaganza, I decided to dedicate a blog post to it. A Brief Ode to Cabbage. A Special Comment on the Cruciferous. There are no hard and fast rules for slaw-making, but C confirms that the primary ingredients are as follows:

Cabbage (red or green)
Olive oil
Vinegar (we use apple cider, because it's tasty and delicious)
Salt
Pepper

And that's it! Shred the cabbage as finely as you like. You can mix up the colors, shred in some carrot, live dangerously with fennel, get randy with radish, etc. In a bowl sufficiently large for the task, drizzle the slaw with some oil, a bit of vinegar, and a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper. Go light. You can always add more. Then toss the slaw together thoroughly. Taste it. One of the reasons C is the primary slaw chef is that this kind of dish takes practice and patient tasting. He doesn't mind (in fact, try to stop him!) tasting assiduously as he cooks whereas I'm inclined to fly by the seat of my pants or cook with my pants on fire or some such metaphor involving pants and reckless behavior. All this is by way of saying taste the dressed slaw and adjust the oil to vinegar to spices as necessary. If you're feeling spicy, try it with some crushed red pepper flakes, but use less than you think. These perk up and get even hotter after soaking in the slaw, consider yourself duly warned. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour (or as long as you have before your other dishes are ready).