Sugar Snap Pea Slaw

Making a slaw with sugar snap peas.

I saw this slaw recipe for Sugar Snap Pea Slaw in my Better Homes and Gardens newsletter and thought, "Wow! I have almost everything for that recipe." Except an apple...Lee threw out our last two apples last night because they had gone all soft. But we got our new box from SLO Veg yesterday and it had sugar snap peas, fennel, and cabbage, so its perfect for the slaw. I have some carrots I can shred, or julienne, and maybe I will pick up an apple or two today and mix it in. I must add that when preparing these vegetables, I was not sure if I should julienne the snap peas lengthwise, with all the peas ending up on one side and just the pod on the other, or if I should cut them more diagonally. I did both, actually. The jury is still out on which way is best.

Oh, we also got HONEY in our SLO Veg box this week. Its a new item and its locally produced honey from Cuyama, California. In case you don't know the area, you head south to Santa Maria, but just before the river, you go left and head out Hwy. 166 til you are way, way, way out in the middle of the boondocks. That's the Cuyama area. Its a lovely drive when you want to get away from it all. I am not even sure if you can get cell phone service out there. Its also a lovely way to get to The 5 if you are heading down to LA and hate traveling in city traffic. Anyway, I like to use local honey because its supposed to be beneficial for seasonal allergies and so forth, which my husband and son suffer from in and out of season. http://www.rockfrontranch.com/honey.html

So I started to assemble my salad, sans apple. Oops, also sans Dijon mustard...I only had German hot mustard and yellow mustard, so I used the yellow. I just looked up the difference and learned something new. While I already knew Dijon mustard contained white wine, I did not know that yellow mustard was colored with turmeric. That spice is known for its medicinal qualities, therefore yellow mustard is healthy for you. Anyway, I used yellow mustard today and add a splash of white wine to my dressing to mimic Dijon mustard. I don't really know if white wine is healthy for you, but red wine is. Delaware! (That's what my husband yells when I stray off topic.) Here is the fascinating link regarding mustard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustard_%28condiment%29#Dijon_mustard

Seasoning blends for Pumpkin Pie spice, etc.

I remember my mother substituting ingredients in her cooking creations when I was a kid, and honestly, it used to drive me nuts! I thought it was a travesty of justice to not follow a recipe exactly with all the specified ingredients. These days, I substitute ingredients all the time in cooking. I think its a matter of knowing more about flavors and how to make things from scratch. Also, my original Betty Crocker cookbook had a whole page of items to substitute in a pinch, like adding lemon juice or vinegar to milk to make it sour if you don't have any buttermilk. Over the years I have learned to make almost everything I cook from scratch, rather than using boxed or bottled ingredients. I also mix up a lot of my own seasoning blends using the variety of spices I stock in my spice cabinet. I have to notate here in Delaware that my mother also used to use instant mashed potatoes on a regular basis. I vowed never to use them in my house, unless I need them as a thickening agent. The Idaho brand instant mashed potatoes are actually decent, but I consider them emergency food.

Emergency substitutions are found in many cookbooks. I make my own spice blend mixes and put the recipe on the bottles for when I run low and need to mix up some more.

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And now, here is the recipe and the original reason for this blog posting anyways...the dressing is delicious and I will let you know later if the slaw is better with or without apple, as I have not yet left the house. (I am still in California.)

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/sugar-snap-pea-slaw/

Julienned, long or on a slant?

Sugar Snap Pea Slaw

Ingredients

2 cups sugar snap peas

2 medium carrots

1 small bulb fennel (6 oz.)

1 large apple

1 cup shredded red savoy cabbage or red cabbage
   (*I used green cabbage and a red onion) 

1 cup shredded napa cabbage

6 ounces plain Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard

1 teaspoon snipped fresh tarragon

Salt

Ground black pepper 

Directions

1. Cut peas, carrots, fennel and apple into julienne strips; place in a large bowl. Add cabbage; toss to combine.
2. In a small bowl combine yogurt, apple cider vinegar, honey, mustard and tarragon. Add to vegetable mixture; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Rock Front Ranch's Black and Purple Sage Honey from Cuyama Valley, CA.  www.rockfrontranch.com