I love cole slaw, but I hate, rather vigorously, that crap that passes for cole slaw in most restaurants. I like my cole slaw vinegary, not sweet at all, and I want to be able to taste the cabbage. Many guests in my home have complimented my cole slaw, so I figured I’d share my method. I don’t have a true recipe with set measurements but I will describe as best as possible what I do. This is for one smallish head of cabbage, which I prefer to slice very thinly (either by hand or with a food processor) rather than mince/chop. I just prefer that texture, but do whatever works for you. Also, I make this almost exclusively with red cabbage (yay vitamins and pretty color!) but it is equally delish with green and would probably be just lovely with savoy or any other type you want to try.

Couple heaping Tbsp mayo
Heaping tsp dijon mustard
2-3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2-3 Tbsp good olive oil
Small shallot, minced
Handful Italian parsley, finely chopped (fresh basil is an amazing alternative to parsley, I just stack the leaves, roll into cigars & chiffonade)
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Whisk first four ingredients together and taste. I like it a little sharp because it mellows once on the cabbage. You want a good balance of mustard sharpness and vinegar sharpness. Adjust as necessary to get it where you think it’s good and then add the other ingredients. Taste and adjust again. You will probably want more salt & pepper than you think you do, just trust me on that. I prefer the pepper to be freshly ground and more on the coarse side. If using parsley, I often throw some extra chopped up parsley in with the cabbage, I like parsley. If using basil I’ll take the teeny tiny leaves and throw those in with the cabbage, they are hard to chiffonade anyway and look so pretty with the cabbage. Pour the dressing over the cabbage & mix well. It’s best if it gets to sit in the fridge for about an hour before you eat, but it’s also damn tasty served right away. Also amazing leftover, I particularly like it for breakfast with a couple fried eggs on top (I swear this is so good!).

This has become a go-to recipe in our house. You can make the nut topping in advance and store it in a jar in your spice cabinet so you have it ready to go for a quick weeknight meal. I usually buy 8 frozen filets of tilapia and this recipe makes enough coating to cover them all with some leftover.

1/2 C almond meal
1/4 C pecans, roughly chopped
1/4 C walnuts, roughly chopped
2 scant Tbsp lemon pepper
1 Tbsp dill
1 tsp paprika
~1 tsp sea salt (amt depends on preference and whether or not your lemon pepper has salt in it)

Mix ingredients in a bowl. If you are not sure about amount of salt err on side of less, you can always salt the fish after cooking. Prep a large baking sheet w/ foil and then oil the foil just a bit. Prep your defrosted (or fresh if you are so lucky!) fish by rinsing, patting dry, and brushing with thin coat of olive oil. Preheat oven to 400F. Spoon the nut mixture as evenly as possible over each filet. I do a fairly generous coat because I fear that it will just meld into the fish if the coating is too thin. I also try to distribute the nuts pretty evenly on the filets but I have some control/perfectionist issues, this step is really not necessary. Bake fish for about 20 minutes, it will depend on your oven but you obviously want the fish flakey and done and the coating should be a bit golden. If the fish is done but the coating still seems kind of raw you can broil it briefly but watch it! I have burned some nuts this way, the pecans especially seem to get burned easily. Serve with a hearty squeeze of lemon (mine & Dylan’s preference) or not (Brian’s preference).