Ok, I'm not big on making salads, after all they are a side and who has time for another 20 minutes of work after you've made you main meal — that said, I've got a couple up my sleeve when entertaining for groups. I quite often buy rainbow shredded coleslaw from Woolworths and I have several variations of condiments to go with it, from vinegars to keepwie mayonnaise. Sometimes adding sliced raddish as that is quick and easy.
This round was about a massive wow factor for minimum effort. It's almost always a side to protein, or popped in some wraps with chicken or beef.
What's in the bag: Woolworths Rainbow Shredded Coleslaw is carrot (50%), broccoli stem (30%) and beetroot (20%), 300 g, pre-washed. There's no cabbage in it at all. It's sweet, earthy and almost unsalted, so it needs a dressing that's sharper than you'd think.
The first go at this had sesame oil and chilli crisp on it, and it went down the wrong path: heavy and muddled. This one goes the other way. The meat is already sticky, salty and charred, so the slaw's job is to cut it, not to be a second marinade.
Mustard does the cutting. Smooth Dijon and lime sharpen sweet carrot and earthy beetroot, and give the broccoli stem something to say.
Less Kewpie. 45 g across two bags is enough to cling and carry the flavour, and not enough to taste like mayonnaise.
Ginger stays. It's what stops mustard and mayo tasting like a bought coleslaw.
The thing people will ask about is the orange: a gram of zest, no juice. Orange is the old friend of beetroot and carrot, and nobody expects it.
No fish sauce, no chilli, no sesame, no nuts, no herbs to pick. Radish and spring onion are the crunch and the green.
The pink is the point. The beetroot dyes the dressing the moment it's tossed. Don't rest it to deepen it. That only makes juice.
Two bags for four to six as a side, or about eight wraps. Half everything for one bag.
It's best for the first 30 minutes and still good at 45 if it stays cold. For a long lunch, dress one bag and keep the other undressed in the fridge. For wraps, lift it with tongs, leave the pink liquid in the bowl, and roll straight away. They're damp after about 15 to 20 minutes.
It hasn't been made in this exact form yet.
AI reviewed by Grok, Codex & Claude
