Raw Vegetable Slaw with Creamy Garlic Dressing

Raw vegetable slaw is not something I gravitate to. Maybe I’m not a big fan of cabbage that makes up the majority of slaw salads. When I first saw the long list of ingredients in David Lebovitz’s recipe in My Paris Kitchen we were supposed to make and blog this week at Cook the Book Fridays, I was bewildered. It was a relief after reading further that we could just pick a few of the vegetables on the list. The choice is extensive and exciting. Cabbage, radicchio, Belgian endive, carrots, beets, apples, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, fennel, kohlrabi, and avocados.

I like going to the local farmers markets and get the freshest seasonal produce I can find. Lately, I’m been getting a lot of kale, chard and beets. I picked up some kohlrabi last time. That would be the core ingredient for the slaw.

It took a while to peel and cut the kohlrabi in matchsticks. I didn’t mind that in the beginning, as an exercise to improve my knife skill, which needs improvement, to say the least. But it was getting to be a long and tedious job.

I added fennel, carrots and avocado, vegetables I always have around, to the slaw. I took out the mandolin to slice the fennel and rediscovered the julienne feature that I haven’t used for so long that I’ve forgotten about it. I used that to cut up another kohlrabi. I have to tell you: that’s the best way I’ve found to cut vegetables into matchstick slices, a neat trick for those who are chef-knife challenged. It was no chore at all to cut up perfect kohlrabi matchsticks with the mandolin slicer. It took very little time to do.

For herbs, I used parsley, dill and a small amount of the remaining chervil leaves I found in my herb patch. All that’s left to do is to make the dressing. I took out the store bought mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, minced garlic, Dijon mustard and ground black pepper. I didn’t bother with any measuring devise in the manner befitting of the carefree summer spirit. Poured in a little of this, sprinkled a little of that until the dressing tasted balanced and flavorful. I left the dressing on the side so everyone can put in as little or as much as one would like.

The creamy garlic dressing works wonder with the slaw. The minced garlic is the star. It adds a welcoming pungent flavor to the raw vegetables. Kohlrabi works better for me in a slaw than cabbage. It has a crisp and delicate flavor that plays well with the garlic dressing and the avocado. This is a light and lovely slaw that I would enjoy throughout the summer. For the next raw vegetable slaw, I am thinking of making a radicchio, beets with hard-boiled eggs some time soon.

Kohlrabi, fennel, carrot slaw with avocado and herbs

I am also linking this post to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen.