Broccoli Slaw with Balsamic Mayonnaise and Nuts

A broccoli based coleslaw is a fun change from regular cabbage based versions, although those are always good in well made recipes. Broccoli in your slaw provides a green vegetable, a cruciferous vegetable that is a cancer fighter, a mild flavor, and a crunchy texture, especially in a matchstick cut.

For a slightly different flavor and texture, try a broccoflower, which is a hybrid of a broccoli and a cauliflower and also a cruciferous vegetable. For this recipe, you can purchase a head of the vegetable and cut the florets of either the broccoli or the broccoflower into smaller pieces, if you prefer that shape and texture for your slaw over the pre-cut matchsticks.

Broccoli slaw mix comes pre-cut in plastic packages at the market under these brand names: Green Giant, Dole, Mann's, Wegman's, Eat Smart, Marketside, Trader Joe's, Taylor, River Ranch, Fresh Selections, and possibly some others in your part of the country.

This is one good way for me to use the remainder of vegetables in my refrigerator.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup white vinegar and 1/2 Cup water
• Garlic salt, black pepper, and white pepper, to your own taste.
• 1/4 to 1/2 Cup each of coarsely chopped red onion, chopped white onion, chopped peeled and seeded cucumber, and chopped zucchini (skin left on).

Instructions:

• I take a pickle jar or similar and place the chopped vegetables into it. Next, add the vinegar, water, and seasonings. Close the jar with its lid tightly closed. Shake the bottle a few times and place it in a refrigerator.
• It's ready to go in a few hours, or you can leave it sit overnight to meld flavors.

Water, Soybean Oil, Balsamic Vinegar (Wine Vinegar, Grape Must), Whole Eggs, Egg Yolks, Modified Food Starch (Corn, Potato), Sugar, Salt, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sorbic Acid and Calcium Disodium EDTA (Used To Protect Quality).

I recently discovered this ingredient when our local market placed it on discounted sale one week.

Balsamic Mayonnaise surprisingly is made with no balsam at all. It does contain balsamic vinegar, which is made from a particular type of grape, the Trebbiano. However, this grape is common and one of the top grapes planted in the world.

Legend has it that the vinegar picked up the name "balsamic", because the Latin and Greek root word of "balsam" indicates healing properties; vinegar of various sorts has been used for healing purposes in many parts of the world.

With the flavors of the balsamic mayonnaise in the slaw recipe above, I am tempted to try the addition of raisins to the dish, probably golden raisins, since the Trebbiano grape is a white grape.