Angel Hair Cole Slaw

When we were living in Ukraine...and then Poland...it didn't take long to recognize the fact that cabbage is abundant and cheap in that part of the world. That reminds me of the day I got off the subway in Ukraine and there was a little vegetable stand at our stop that we frequented. This particular day I needed cabbage so I bought a head. By the way, in Russian it's called 'kapoosta'. That right there is reason enough to buy cabbage... Just so I can say "mozhna kapoosta pazhalusta" [cabbage please, may I?]. So anyway, as I was walking home with a head of cabbage [no bag] under my arm, it hit me that the only person who thought it the least bit strange that I was walking down the sidewalk, carrying a head of cabbage, under my arm...was me. And then I couldn't stop thinking about how strange it was that no one else thought it was strange, but by then I was already home making cole slaw. Pardon my massive digression! It was actually in Poland that I was inspired to perfect my cole slaw. I feel kinda bad for cole slaw. It's so much better than it's reputation. It's so often the forgotten tiny portion in a plastic cup on the side of the plate and rarely better than mediocre. Let's be honest. It's usually either not sweet enough or too sweet but not tangy enough or just a creamy pile of blandness. I suppose by now you are thinking "I've never put this much thought into cole slaw". Well, I'm here to tell you that I have. and I do. What is it with me and cole slaw? Cole slaw and me? Really. Long. Story. Short. Here's what I came up with. The perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and creamy with the just-right touch of celery salt...not to be confused with celery seed which in my opinion is too overpowering.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium head of cabbage sliced very thin to make angel hair cole slaw (or 2 bags of fine shred cabbage such as Fresh Express Angel Hair Cole Slaw)
• 1-2 carrots peeled and finely shredded (optional)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• lots of fresh ground black pepper (optional) 

Directions:

Put cabbage into a large bowl. In a small bowl mix the carrots (if using), mayo, sugar, vinegar and celery salt. whisk until smooth. Pour over cabbage and toss to coat well. Add about 20 cranks of fresh pepper or to taste...or not at all...it's up to you. Refrigerate several hours and toss occasionally. Toss to coat well and move salad to another bowl before serving. The cabbage shrinks quite a bit as it sits and as a result there's a lot of excess dressing. You can discard the excess  or add more cabbage.

Cole slaw is such a great easy salad/side because it's good all year round. I always make this when I make sloppy joes or barbequed pulled pork sliders and in the summer when we grill out so much.