Poor Richard’s Almanac

Silence Dogood here. I had promised to bring our own Mr. Hays’s famous Baked Potato Salad to last night’s gathering of the Friday Night Supper Club. (For more on this enjoyable and informal gathering, see our earlier post “The Friday Night Supper Club;” I’d recommend it to anyone.) But I knew there would be lots of hungry folks gathered and such summery treats as corn on the cob (our first of the season) offered, so I wanted to bring a second salad that would go perfectly with the first. 

Now, potato salad (at least the way I like to make it) is soft, rich, and oniony. I decided I wanted a complete contrast that would provide bold color and crunch. So I made something up. I’m an intuitive cook, and I generally can tell when things will go well together and when they won’t. But this time, I decided to take a bit of a gamble. I figured it would either be wonderful or inedible, but even if the latter, there would still be the potato salad and plenty of other food. Fortunately, it was a triumph—so good, and so fast and easy to make (in contrast to the potato salad!), that I want to share it with you. Try it next time you want an unusual substitute for standard cole slaw!

             Silence’s Carrot Cabbage Confetti Salad

1 package shredded carrots

2 packages shredded red cabbage

1 carton crumbled gorgonzola cheese (could substitute crumbled blue or feta cheese if preferred)

2 tablespoons fennel seeds (could substitute caraway or cumin seeds if preferred)

1/4 to 1/2 cup sunflower seed kernels, to taste

Greek salad dressing, vinaigrette, or oil and vinegar

salt to taste (we like Real Salt)   

Given my druthers, I’d have added a whole diced sweet onion (Vidalia, WallaWalla, Candy, or 1015 type) to this as well. But I didn’t because I know some of the Supper Club folks aren’t as crazy about onions as our friend Ben and I are, and besides, the potato salad was already plenty oniony. I used packages of shredded carrots and cabbage for convenience, but you could obviously shred your own for this salad. I used two packs of red cabbage to one of carrots because the cabbage bags were slightly smaller than the carrot bag, and I wanted to make sure there was at least as much red cabbage (and preferably a little more) in the salad as carrot. I decided on fennel seeds rather than caraway or cumin because I thought the sweet anise flavor of the fennel seeds would enhance the carrots and cabbage and contrast well with the richness of the gorgonzola, but I think any of these would taste good, so use your favorite or try all three and see which you like best.

To make the salad, just toss the carrots, cabbage, fennel seeds, sunflower seeds, salt, and gorgonzola in a huge bowl and stir well to mix. Then add as much of the dressing as needed to moisten but not drown the salad. (I used Greek dressing, probably between 1/3 and 1/2 a bottle; you want plenty to flavor the salad but not so much that there’s a pool of it in the bottom of the bowl. Better to add less than you think it will take to start with, then add a bit more if needed, than to start with too much.) That’s all, folks!

It takes less than 10 minutes to throw this salad together if you start with pre-shredded veggies. But I’d suggest refrigerating it overnight to bring out its flavor. I didn’t have the chance to do that this time, since the whole dinner was a bit iffy because of the holiday weekend and we only decided to go ahead with it at the last minute. But I can tell you, even after marinating in the dressing for just a couple of hours, this was one yummy salad! I managed to sneak a little bit home so Ben and I can have it again tonight, and I think it will be even more delicious after its additional marinating time.

Try it, you’ll like it! And enjoy your long weekend. Oh, and by the way, for the recipe for Mr. Hays’s amazing potato salad, see my earlier post “Painless pickles, potato salad, and pimiento cheese spread.” You’ll find other easy must-try recipes as well! 

          ‘Til next time,

                      Silence