Overnight Coleslaw

The Fourth of July is tomorrow.  What are you taking to the party?  If you didn't know what bring to your own gathering before you started reading this, you do now.

I threw this coleslaw together to use up a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix.  It has to sit overnight, so I left it in the fridge and, a couple days later, took it out to serve with dinner, took a bite...and proceeded to eat half the bowl.  In my book, a life well lived consists of an endless series of acts of generosity, but I'll admit that I only reluctantly forced the fork down to ensure there was some left for my dear spouse and child.

I grew up with the all-American two ingredient coleslaw recipe:

1) Bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix
2) Bottle of Kraft coleslaw dressing

And actually, that's still how coleslaw is made at my mom's house, and I'll still happily throw a scoop on my paper plate.  But this new recipe blows Kraft out of the water.  And it's nearly as easy.  Plus, I love that you can (actually, you must) make it ahead of time, either one or two days in advance, so when it's party time, just pull it out of the fridge and off you go.

If I have cabbage and carrots on hand, I'll happily shred my own, but this time I'm listing the recipe with the bagged coleslaw mix.  It's going to look like A LOT of coleslaw before you pour the dressing on, but as it sits in the fridge, it's going to melt down into lovely crunchy goodness.  If you want to shred your own veggies, be sure to check out the original recipe linked below.

Overnight Coleslaw
Adapted from the July 2012 issue of Food and Wine magazine.  Get the original recipe here. 

Two 14-oz. or 16 oz. bags of pre-shredded coleslaw mix
1 c. sugar
1 c. distilled white vinegar
3/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp. dry mustard powder
1 tsp. celery seeds
1 tsp. kosher salt

Add the coleslaw mix to a large bowl. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, oil, dry mustard, celery seeds and salt and bring just to a boil. Pour the hot dressing over the coleslaw and toss well. Refrigerate overnight. Drain any excess dressing just before serving.