Easy Coleslaw with Blue Cheese & Apple ♥ Recipe Plus
The Economics of Bags of Coleslaw

Easy Coleslaw with Blue Cheese & Apple, another easy healthy salad ♥ AVeggieVenture.com, 3 ingredients + 5 minutes puts salad on the table!
Today's easy coleslaw recipe: A quick coleslaw made from a bag of coleslaw (or chopped cabbage) and blue cheese dressing with a few apples tucked in for crunch and sweetness. Plus a lesson in coleslaw economics and a smart shopping tip!


So if you could buy cabbage for $.66 or $1.89 or $2.52 a pound, which one would you choose?

For $.66 a pound, buy a cabbage, wash, trim and quick-quick chop it. Assume 11% waste -- but I accounted for that in the price.
For $1.89 a pound (that's almost three times as much), buy a 16-ounce bag of cabbage slaw, already chopped with a little carrot and red cabbage included for color. No waste – just be sure to rinse the cabbage in cold water to freshen it up.
For $2.52 a pound (that's almost four times as much), buy a 12-ounce bag of finely shredded cabbage – that's the only difference between the two bags, well, except price.
Want to see how the two bags were placed side-by-side in the grocery store? Here's my photo on Flickr. I wish I could say it was "accidental" – but see just too many instances where grocery stores seem to intentionally display products, including produce, in ways that influence our choices to the higher-margin product.

Still, life isn't always about cost and there's no doubt that "convenience" matters. So no judgment, we each get to make our own decisions, what's right for us. Some nights? A bag of coleslaw is as good as it's gonna get.

And this coleslaw is worth making – no matter who does the chopping. Summer easy, 'tis the season.

Summer Easy, a special collection of Less Cookin' and More Livin' recipes especially for summer ♥ KitchenParade.com all summer long.
This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a growing collection of easy summer recipes published all summer long ever since 2009 at Kitchen Parade, my food column. With a free Kitchen Parade e-mail subscription, you'll never miss a one!




EASY COLESLAW with BLUE CHEESE & APPLE

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time to table: 5 minutes
Serves 4

8 ounces coleslaw mix
2 tablespoons blue cheese dressing, thinned with a little milk if you like
1 apple, chopped, reserve a few slices for garnish if you like

Freshen up that bag of coleslaw! Just rinse under cold water and then run through a salad spinner to dry. Stir in the blue cheese dressing and apple. Best served right away or within an hour or so, see TIPS.

ALANNA'S TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
I don't very often buy salad dressings but every once in awhile, when I want just a bit, will pick up a package of dressing from the salad bar. That said, when I did that the first time I made this salad, the packet said it was "blue cheese salad dressing" but it sure wasn't very "blue cheesy". When I made it again with bottled dressing, very good!
Blue cheese salad dressing can be a little "gloppy" -- so I like to thin it down a bit, so it'll go further and coat the slaw less heavily, with a little milk.
If you do make a little ahead of time, to prevent the cut apple from browning, chop it up and add just before serving or toss the cut pieces with a little lemon juice beforehand, the acid will prevent the apples from turning brown. UPDATE My friend Kirsten (see comments) suggests using pineapple juice instead of lemon juice – same effect, less "sour lemon"!




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Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. I'm not a huge coleslaw fan in general, but with blue cheese and goat cheese, yes please!

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  2. AnonymousMay 24, 2011

    I've just discovered your web-site and it is a new favorite. I am eagerly anticipating visiting my local farmer's market when it opens next week and will be applying your tips. Thanks for all the veggie tips and your continued good work!

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  3. This sounds really good. I was just commenting to my husband the other day that I used to despise coleslaw and now I love it! I would love to try this, I might add blue cheese chunks and some chopped walnuts too - YUM!

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  4. I've made blue cheese coleslaw...love the apple addition in this one!

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  5. Actually, in the picture, the $1.89 is for the "Angel Hair" version - it specifies underneath the price. I'm guessing the package on the left was a different price (or at least had a different price tag somewhere).

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  6. Hi Alicia - That was the thing, both bags WERE $1.89, both LOOKED to be the same size. (There was another label for the regular coleslaw but it was out of the frame.)

    And when making a quick "we need coleslaw" decision, doesn't the 'angel hair' sound so appealing -- and it's on the right side, too, just slightly easier to grab for right-handed people?

    At least that was my own experience -- until I checked the labels.

    Thanks for keeping me on my toes!

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  7. Pineapple Juice!

    I may consider it my personal mission to change the yucky 'use lemon juice to keep your apples from turning brown' advice to pineapple juice!

    It tastes SO MUCH BETTER.
    I keep a pack of those little cans of pineapple juice in my pantry for this purpose. Dipping or briefly soaking apple slices in the juice keeps them great for days (I know, I took them on a weekend scrapbooking retreat and a couple of apple slices were left on Sunday that I'd cut/dipped on Friday).

    I can't believe how deceptive that is-those bags are the same price, look to be the same size but the fancy name (of course I'd like Angel Hair cole slaw, who wouldn't?) bag holds significantly less. Sneaky.

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  8. Kirsten - Pineapple juice, never ONCE thought of it and especially when lemons are so expensive, pineapple juice can be kept in the pantry, hmm, maybe frozen too? You're a peach, girl!

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  9. I find myself on the fence about coleslow often, but I enjoy bleu cheese dressing and gave this a try yesterday. It was absolutely delicious and refreshing.

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  10. Cheap & easy - what a great cooking motto. We love cole slaw and this sounds yummy.

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna