Quick Summery Side: Mexican Slaw

I love cabbage in pretty much any form - slaw, cooked, fermented into sauerkraut or kimchi, etc.  Sometimes I'll buy a bag of coleslaw mix without any plans for what to do with it, and then I wing it on a recipe.

This time my bag of coleslaw mix was hanging out in the fridge without getting used and I needed to figure out what to do with it before it sat too long and started going bad.  This recipe for Mexican slaw appealed to me for a couple reasons -- it was mainly ingredients I had, plus it was different.  Over the summer I made a Korean slaw that was good, but I wanted something that was a little different.

Inspiration

Eating Well Mexican Coleslaw

I read the reviews and found that people were saying it was pretty generic, not really Mexican, so I kept that in mind.  I skipped the carrots since my coleslaw blend had them already, and I didn't have fresh cilantro so I substituted dried.  And to make it more Mexican-inspired, I used lime and lemon juice instead of vinegar.  And neutral canola oil rather than olive oil.  And added some seasoning to punch it up a bit. 

Ingredients

• 16 oz bag of coleslaw blend (7.5 cups)
• 1 T dried cilantro
• 3 T lime juice (didn't even know I had this in the fridge!)
• 1 T lemon juice (ran out of lime juice)
• 2 T canola oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tap cumin
• 2-4 heavy shakes Mrs. Dash fiesta lime seasoning

Directions

Put the shredded coleslaw in a bowl.  Mix dressing in small container. Let rest for a few minutes to hydrate the dry ingredients and then taste it. Add any extra seasoning that you feel is necessary. Pour half of the dressing over the slaw and stir it up really well.  Add in the rest of the dressing and stir again. 

Verdict

This ended up being really tart, but habit forming.  It wasn't so sour to make you pucker, but it certainly made you sit up and notice.  It went well with our smoked turkey sausages as a summery meal, I could almost pretend we weren't sitting inside in March while it snowed outside... yet again.  Husband Jeff and I went back for additional servings, declaring how it was "so tart, but so good".    Slaw like this doesn't really last long since it starts to get kinda wilted, but I will definitely eat more for lunch this week.

Question

Do you eat leftovers?  Some people don't and I find that weird.  If it was really good the first time, don't you want more?  I love leftovers for that very reason, more delicious food!  Plus I hate wasting food.