Alice Waters’ Coleslaw

I have a wonderful reoccurring dream where I live at Chez Panisse.  Sometimes in my dream I’m Fanny, Alice’s daughter who literally grew up at her mother’s famous restaurant in Berkeley.  Sometimes I’m one of the fortunate chefs under Alice’s tutelage.  But the dreamiest of all dreams is when I’m simply a guest at a cozy table downstairs with a vantage point of everything going on in the kitchen.

When I’m not dreaming, I can only aspire to be Alice Waters-esque.  Buying local, organic produce at the peak of its harvest is made relatively easy with Whole Foods and Central Market in my backyard.  When I can I shop at our local farmer’s market and support the local farms and CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) in central Texas.  I’m (still) on the waiting list at Tecolote Farms. Katie if you are reading this, please, please let me in!  I can only imagine the thrill of having a freshly picked bushel of produce land on my doorstep each week.

Despite my dreams and desires to be all organic, local and fresh sometimes those pesky, little realities such as time and money keep me from living in a complete Waters’ World!  But, when I stumbled across a recipe clipped from a newspaper entitled Alice Waters’ Coleslaw, I floated back into my reveries.  I wish I could attribute the clipping or that this is in fact an Alice Waters recipe.  All I have is a copy of the recipe given to me by Mom’s BFF.

I’m going to sear a beautiful tuna steak and serve it a top this yummy coleslaw.  Here is the recipe as it was given to me:

Alice Waters’ Coleslaw

1 medium cabbage (about 3 pounds)

1 large jalapeno

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

3-4 T fresh lime juice

3-4 tsp red wine vinegar

1/4 – 1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Large pinch of sugar or more to taste

Quarter the cabbage through the core; cut out the core.  Cut the quarters crosswise in half; finely shred, using a sharp knife.  Place shredded cabbage in a very large bowl.  Cut open the jalapeno, discard the seeds and dice.  Add jalapeno, onion and cilantro to the cabbage and toss to mix.  Mix lime juice, vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and sugar.  Toss with cabbage.