Christie's Coleslaw

Gayles Bakery & Rosticceria in Capitola is one of the best places for food on earth, let alone Santa Cruz County. It is so good; it should be bronzed!

When we went to Gayles as a family, Lauren always got twice-baked potatoes, Alan always got pastries (usually Schnecken) and I always, ALWAYS got "Christie's Coleslaw". No, this isn't your mama's coleslaw. This has cilantro and fresh ginger root. Holy Asian-American Fusion, Batman!

This recipe was from Gayle's official website...

Ingredients:

1 small head cabbage (1 1/2 lbs.) red or green or a mixture of both, shredded.
6 carrots, cut into curls with a peeler (I just shredded 'em)
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced (1/2 C)
1 bunch cilantro, stemmed and coarsely chopped (1 C, loosely packed)

Dressing:

1/2 C low-fat mayonnaise (Best Foods works well)
2 T grated fresh ginger root
2 T grated onion (I didn't use this--there's a lot of onion in the salad, and I didn't want to cry)
1/3 C sugar, or 2 T honey
1/2 C rice vinegar
1/2 to 1 t salt (to taste--I tripled the recipe and only needed 2 t)
1 t pepper

Topping:

1/4 C candied ginger, finely chopped (optional--I don't think Gayle's uses this anymore)
1/4 C peanuts, chopped (I used salted ones)

Combine the vegetables and cilantro in a large bowl. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a medium bowl until well mixed. Dress the slaw with the dressing so that it is well coated. Place the coleslaw in a serving dish and top with chopped peanuts.