There is nothing worse than a soggy salad– overestimating the quantity you need and having to toss what remains knowing it will be a lifeless green puddle the following day. This salad slaw mix solves the problem—you can make a big bowl and it keeps! Nutritional love abounds with three different cruciferous vegetables and protective inulin from the artichokes.

We use two kinds of cabbage—the red lightly sautéed and the green left raw and sliced finely with a little home mandolin or by hand. It is then splashed with vinegar, and combined with marinated artichoke hearts and curly kale. The salad will taste better after a few hours of the flavors melding and keeps in the refrigerator for the next day, or longer if you keep freshening the kale (add more kale as you eat it though the week). The cabbage and the vinegar make this slaw salad bit kimchi-ish, but without the heat.

Directions:

Rinse and dry outside of cabbages and the kale leaves.

Slice red cabbage in about 1/4 inch wide rounds removing the tough inner core. You may first cut the cabbage in half for convenient slicing. If not, cut the rounds in half afterward; it will make sauté easier.  Lightly sauté cabbage in pan with olive oil until some of the rawness is removed, but still a bit firm with crunch. Move cabbage around in pan as it is being sautéed. Add ½ cup vinegar to pan and remove from heat.

Finely slice green cabbage to create a different texture than the red cabbage. Use a little home mandolin (available at Crate and Barrel for under $12) or do by hand. Mandolins are ridiculously  sharp so watch your fingertips. Crate and Barrel sells a mesh glove to wear for finger protection—I use mine regularly to keep from getting cut. Set aside.

Remove coarse center stem from the kale and tear into bite-sized pieces. Reserve.

In a large bowl place the red cabbage mixed with the vinegar. Add the desired number of quartered artichoke hearts (and only about 2 Tblsp of the artichoke marinade) and mix ingredients. Incorporate the amount of curly kale you want to add to the blend, tossing all the leaves in the vinegar and marinating oil dressing. Then lightly mix in the finely shredded green cabbage–the purpose is preserve some of the bright green color from the now pink vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste.

If your slaw salad needs freshening during the week, add more curly kale and re-toss. If too dry, include a bit of vinegar and a few teaspoons of reserved marinade or oil. Keep in refrigerator with a tightly-covered lid.