Month of Slaw Continues: Tahini-Lemon Super Slaw!

That's right, kids!  Super-Slaw.
Why?  Because it seriously is the most satifying raw cabbage thing I've ever had.

As usual, no measurements, so hope for the best.

The Basics:

What do you do with the cabbage?

Good Question that applies to any slaw: I recently purchased a mandoline.  Best $50 I've spent on kitchen stuff.  Well, actually, the $8 I spent on slice-proof gloves may have been the biggest return on investment.
I don't have to fumble with that ridiculous plunger doohickey, and yet I also don't lose any fingers.  Good times.
So, first I quarter the cabbage and make a diagonal cut through each quarter to remove the core.  Then zip zip zip shred it long and skinny in the mando, taking care to turn it slightly as I go so that I always present the blades with a similar cross-section.  That done, I change to the Julienne blade and get to work on the other veg. Today's victims were 4-5 medium carrots and a good half-pound of radishes.  
Next I salt the vegetables.  Salting them now will draw water out, making them just a little bit limp.  It will also make them more ready to absorb some of the dressing, and I think it takes a bit of the bitter out of the cabbage and radish.  I take a rough stab at how much salt will be used in the final product, and use that much, tossing it into the veg.  I then compress it all in a large pot, put a plate on top, and put a weight on the plate.  This expedites the dehydration process.

The Dressing:
In a really big steel bowl, I pour a generous amount of olive oil.  How much?  maybe a quarter inch? I dunno.THIS IS JAZZ, PEOPLE. A little less than I think I would need to dress all the cabbage. Next I get out the garlic press and press in 4-5 cloves of garlic.

Okay: right now, I'm going to stop and say that maybe I put in too much garlic.  On day one, it's great, but 4 hours in the fridge and it is pretty powerful.   


Next, I juice in a whole lemon, and add tahini to taste.  This balance is the trick.  There should be a pleasing balance between the bitterness of the sesame and the tartness of the lemon.
Now mix up the dressing until uniform. There should also be a nice, thick consistency...not peanut butter, but not quite runny, either. This is achieved by balancing the tahini and olive oil.
Make sure to dig the settled seed mass off the bottom of the tahini jar.  That's the good stuff.

Uncover the shredded veg.  By now it is probably a tad less crunchy and very pleasant to eat.  Taste some and make sure it is not too salty.  If it is, you may have to rinse and dry in a salad spinner.

start with a couple nice handsful of the slaw and mix it into the dressing.  This part must be done by hand, or you are just not having fun. keep adding the veg a handful at a time until you have just the right consistency.  You can almost do it by ear.  It should have a very pleasing audible "squish" when you are ...well...squishing the dressing in.  Once you have achieved the right dressing to veg balance, STOP ADDING VEG.  Save the rest for another slaw.

Oh, and somewhere along the line I chopped and added some fresh parsley to this.

Put this mixture in the fridge and try not to eat it all in one day.  My final product looked like this (my camera phone is not the best for colors):

When serving, I suggest garnishing with a drizzle of olive oil and some ground sumac.  Fresh mint leaves could do something nice as well.  Or even some hot paprika
.
This also would be frikkin amazing on top of a felafel sammich.

enjoy!