Caraway & Bacon Coleslaw

I have to say that this summer I have fallen in love with cabbage, and I mean completely in LOVE! Purple, white, pickled, sauerkraut every single one is on my menu this summer.

So why have I fallen in love? Well, let's see. Firstly, it is a cheap and humble vegetable that you can play with, cook, pickle or even eat raw, you can also easily elevate it and give it any flavor you want. Secondly, it is super healthy and full of antioxidants. Last but not least it pairs with almost any meat.

This recipe for a slaw is one of my favorites. My mom was the first person that I recall that added bacon to a slaw, but I have to say that looking at our Polish cabbage cuisine we add meat and bacon to a lot of them - example - BIGOS- a delicious autumn/ winter one bowl meal. Anyway, this recipe is much more suited for summer BBQ and potlucks. You can eat it as a snack with pieces of bread but it goes amazing with pulled pork or ribs.

TIME

Ready in 1 h

Preparation time 30 min

Serves 8 people

INGREDIENTS

Slaw:

1/4 purple cabbage (shredded)
1/2 white cabbage
1 shallot (chopped)
12 oz of bacon (cherrywood, chopped and fried)
1 scallions (chopped)
2 tbsp of roasted caraway seeds (1 for the sauce, and one in the slaw)

Sauce:

⅓ cup of mayonnaise
⅓ cup of greek yogurt
⅓ cup of buttermilk
1 tsp of chili powder
1 tsp of agave syrup
1 tsp of red vine vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp of sparkling water
Salt & pepper
1 tbsp of caraway seeds (roasted)

STEP BY STEP

Preheat the frying pan, slice bacon into 0,5 inch small slices, and let it fry on the pan on a medium heat for about 5-8 min. After it changes color to a golden light brown, transfer it on a paper towel and set a side.
Preheat a small pan and roast all caraway seeds.
In a medium ball whisk together mayonnaise, yogurt, butter milk, red vine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, agave syrup and sparkling water. Set a side.
Cored and shred both cabbages, and finely slice the scallions, toss everything in together with 1 tbsp of salt and set a side in the sink for about 30 min.
Put everything in a colander, rinse the cabbage mixture with cold water and dry. Add the fried and chopped bacon and the roasted caraway seeds. Toss it with the dressing and season with black pepper. Refrigerate to let the flavors come together for about 1 hour.
Decorate the slaw with chopped scallions. SMACZNEGO!

TIPS

Remember to always drain bacon on a paper towel before serving it, not only for this recipe and ALWAYS. Paper towels sinks in the excessive amount of bacon fat. If you will forget in this recipe the slaw will be too greasy, heavy.
While roasting any seeds you can use a small frying pan or a small sauce pan, just make sure that the seeds are not layered up.
To dry the cabbage you and use a salad spinner or paper towels.
Remember to rinse the cabbages from salt, omitting that step will make you slaw very salty!