Carrot Slaw

Labor Day is the perfect time for salads.  Veggie salads.  I love stuff you can make, refrigerate, and forget about till it’s time to eat it.

And speaking of forgetting… (cue the harp music and wavy images…)

When I was a child, I went with my mother to visit some friends.  At the time, I was an only child and they had three or four children.  I don’t remember much about the visit except that when it was time to leave, (still trying to figure out where I was..bathroom?  raiding the fridge? engrossed in an episode of The Brady Bunch, wondering if Jan was ever going to be as popular as Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!? how many options could there be for a seven year old?) everyone managed to get into the car except me.

I guess, somewhere in the mayhem and madness of everyone piling into the backseat, no one could tell how many kids there were.  Ahhh.  The good old days when child safety seats and seat belts were as nonexistent as flying cars and time machines.  Were there four heads in the back or five? Eight arms or ten arms?  Who could tell. All I knew is, one minute, I was part of the pack, the next  I was chasing the car up the street like a dog.  A really slow dog, since I never even came close to catching the car, by the way.

Fortunately, the driver of the car looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that he was being pursued.

“Did you forget something?” He asked my mother as he pulled over.

Now, I’ve heard the next part of the story two ways:

version 1: “No,” my mother said.  “I’ve got my purse and sun glasses right here.”

version 2: “Stop the car! I’ve forgotten my only child!”

As much as I want to believe version 2, I’m pretty sure version 1 was closer to the truth.  Sigh.

Never one to let a good guilt trip go to waste (it was a whole five blocks home!), I have been known over the years to randomly throw out to her: “You had ONE child!  ONE!  How do you forget ONE child?”

Of course, her stock answer is: Kinda wishing at this moment that we didn’t stop the car for you.  😁

Ingredients:

• 1 cup julienned daikon (or other radish)
• 2 cups julienned carrots (multi-color works really well here, but orange is fine)
• 3/4 cup julienned peeled and seeded cucumber
• 1/2 cup sliced green onion

Dressing:

• 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2  1/2 Tablespoons oil (use garlic oil if you have it)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (omit if you use garlic oil)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the radish, carrot, cucumber and green onion.
2. In a jar or small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the dressing.  Pour over the vegetables and toss to combine.  Adjust salt and pepper.

Enjoy!