My mom gave me her recipe boxes and I spent a couple of hours looking through them. I relived certain food memories and chuckled over a few of them. This Crunchy Broccoli Slaw recipe is the one I found most amusing. Keep reading to find out why.
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Crunchy Broccoli Slaw
First of all, I have to show you a picture of my mom’s recipe boxes, exactly as they were given to me:
The one on the left is the one she had when I was growing up. I’m not sure when she got the other one but there isn’t as much in that one.
Recipes are stuffed in, all higgledy piggledy. There are some recipes neatly scribed on actual recipe cards. These are mostly from my Aunt Dee, Mom’s sister. There are others that I copied for her on index cards back in my early teens. Some are from friends and acquaintances. And then there are the ones my mom scribbled down on everything from sticky notes to the backs of letters. It seems Mom never had a pad of paper handy. And sometimes no pen or pencil because a few were written in crayon or colored markers.
I spent an enjoyable couple of hours reading through all the recipes, noting some I’d like to try.
There was one “recipe” that amused and baffled me, though:
In case you can’t see it clearly, it reads:
- 1/3 c. vinegar – white
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 3/4 c. oil
- 1 pkg. beef
You’ve seen the name of the recipe in the title of this post but imagine coming across this list of ingredients and trying to figure out what in the world it’s supposed to be.
“1 pkg. beef” – What kind of beef? What do you do with it? Is this a marinade of some sort?
I read it to David and both of my kids. None of us had a clue.
I mentioned it to my mom, not really expecting her to have any idea what it was. However, she surprised me. Not only did she know what it was but she remembered the rest of the ingredients. She told me where she got it (a church potluck, I believe) and said it was really good.
Of course I had to try it. And she was right. It’s delicious! I served it with pulled pork sandwiches the first night and then the next night I made pulled pork tacos which we topped with the Crunchy Broccoli Slaw. Normally I fry a total of 9 corn tortillas when I make tacos. David and Chris each have three, I have two and Shiloh gets one (that dog LOVES Taco Tuesdays!).
These tacos were honestly and truly the best tacos I’ve ever had. So I ended up frying another tortilla for each of (not Shiloh, though). We were stuffed but they were just amazing!
It’s an easy recipe and one that will definitely be a regular for us.
Crunchy Broccoli Slaw
Sweet and tangy, this is a nice change of pace from ordinary coleslaw.
Ingredients
- 1 bag broccoli slaw from produce section
- 1/2 cup mild flavored oil
- 1/3 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1-2 pkg. beef favored ramen
- 1 pkg. green onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
-
In large mixing bowl combine oil, vinegar, sugar and ONE seasoning packet from ramen. Combine well.
-
Add bag of broccoli slaw and chopped green onions. Stir gently to combine.
-
Crumble ramen noodles and add to bowl. Stir until well coated.
-
Chill at least a couple of hours.
After Mom told me the rest of the recipe I found this:
Ah…now it all made sense. Mom said she used one package of beef ramen though this says two. I think either would be fine but only use one packet of seasoning or it will be too salty.
It calls for 3/4 cup of oil but I use 1/2 a cup and it’s plenty.
It calls for an entire package of green onions, chopped. I just used three green onions and it was fine.
Broccoli slaw isn’t always available where I shop but you can substitute cabbage. I didn’t have any more broccoli slaw on hand but did have a cabbage so I tried that last night. It worked well enough although I do like the broccoli a bit better.
It’s a delicious accompaniment to barbecue chicken or pork and keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator.
I hope you’ll give it a try and let me know what you think. And stay tuned for more “From Mom’s Recipe Box”.
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Never would have guessed when you first told me the ingredients that this is what it was meant for! I make myself notes like this sometimes but never remember what they meant. Ha!
I’m just really surprised she remembered, especially since the list didn’t include the main ingredient – ha!
Must be interesting going through all those recipes, even if it’s quite a chore figuring some of them out.
I’ve never had broccoli slaw, and I know they don’t sell it over here (at least, nowhere I’ve looked). I’d likely have to make it myself anyhow, because few places even do regular vegan slaw. If I did it though, I don’t think I’d use the same way of seasoning that you and your Mom did, because I was never really a fan of those “beef flavoured” and “chicken flavoured” seasoning packet thingys even when I ate meat. Might need to try some different seasoning options and make my own broccoli slaw one of these days though…
Broccoli slaw isn’t always easy to find here, either. I used the same dressing on shredded cabbage and it was good, too. I’m not usually a fan of those seasonings, either but in combination with the vinegar, oil and sugar it’s quite tasty. I was thinking of experimenting with seasonings, too. I think some type of vegan bouillon powder, garlic salt and onion powder would be a good start.
Yes, sounds like a good place to start.
We sure enjoyed featuring your awesome post at Full Plate Thursday,496! Thanks so much for sharing it with us and you have a great week!
Miz Helen
Thank you for featuring it! Hope your week is going well.