I love cabbage. I love slaw. But this Cabbage and Fennel Slaw bears little resemblance to traditional coleslaw. There are no carrots. The sweetness comes from golden raisins. The crunch is not only from the cabbage, but also from the fresh fennel bulb that is sliced thin like the cabbage, and hidden in plain sight. The anise flavor is so unexpected. There is some mayo. But there’s also an equal amount of yogurt in the dressing, giving this dish a wonderful tang. This is a special slaw for a special occasion.
Cabbage and Fennel Slaw with Golden Raisins
Ingredients
- 1 pound cabbage
- 1 small fennel bulb
- 2/3 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 3 T lime juice
- 1 T honey
- 1/4 t celery salt
- 1/4 t white pepper
Instructions
- Prep the vegetables – Slice and chop the cabbage and the fennel. This is a manual process – you don't want it to be as finely shredded as it would be if you had used the food processor.
- Toss the veg and the raisins – Toss the cabbage, fennel, and the raisins.
- Make the dressing – Stir together the mayo, yogurt, lime juice, honey, celery salt, and white pepper.
- Stir the dressing into the veg – Fold the dressing into the veg and raisins, and stir to combine. Let the slaw rest for a bit before serving, to give the flavors a chance to mellow and meld.
I used to try to grow fennel in our garden. But fennel doesn’t play nice with others. I had planted it next to bell peppers, and the pepper plants were stunted. They didn’t die, but they didn’t thrive either. Then I read about fennel’s effect on other garden herbs and vegetables – it produces biochemicals that can inhibit the growth of most other plants, especially vegetables in the nightshade family. I pulled the fennel out of the garden that year, and the pepper plants began to rebound. Fennel is a bully in the garden.
However, fennel does have its charms. Fennel is a great pollinator plant. Like dill, it’s a larval host for swallowtail butterflies. But again, it should be planted far away from your dill, because the plants will cross-pollinate and your seed stock will be suspect. Not just a bully, but a thug, albeit a charming and tasty one. So I still plant fennel for the butterflies – I just plant it far away from my vegetable garden.
This Cabbage and Fennel Slaw with Golden Raisins does have roots in my garden, however. I grow cabbage, and the cabbage that comes out of our garden is so tender and sweet. Perfect for this delicate slaw, enhancing the fennel’s appeal, proving that opposites do attract!
