Butternut Squash Coleslaw

The ISFA work continues — another kitchen table this week, another young family with numbers that might work. I sat across from a couple in Warren County and laid out the grants and watched their faces change from fear to possibility, and the change is the thing I live for now.

The recipe this week: caprese salad. Standing at the stove, Marlene's wooden spoon in my hand (the cracked one, the one that will outlast us all), the recipe either from the card box or from my own expanding collection, both equally real, both equally mine. The kitchen holds all of it — the old recipes and the new ones, the teacher's food and the student's food, the grief and the joy and the cinnamon. All of it. Always.

Canning approaches. August. The ritual that marks the turn from growing to preserving, from garden to pantry, from the sun to the jar. The pressure canner — Marlene's mother's, weight jiggly, gauge lying, handle replaced twice — waiting in the closet like a veteran reporting for duty. The heirloom equipment for the heirloom work.

With August on the horizon and the pressure canner already whispering from the closet, I wanted something that honored the garden while it still belonged to right now — not yet sealed in a jar, not yet preserved for winter, just alive and on the table. This butternut squash coleslaw is exactly that kind of recipe: the kind that asks nothing complicated of you after a long day of laying out grant numbers and watching fear turn into something else. It’s crisp and sweet and grounding, and it tastes like the good part of the season before the work of saving it begins.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 20 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 cups butternut squash, peeled and grated or julienned
2 cups green cabbage, thinly shredded
1 cup purple cabbage, thinly shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Prep the vegetables. Peel and grate the butternut squash using the large holes of a box grater or a julienne peeler. Shred the green and purple cabbage as thinly as possible. Grate the carrot and slice the green onions. Add everything to a large mixing bowl along with the parsley.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, and celery seed until smooth and fully combined. Taste and adjust sweetness or acidity as needed.
Dress the slaw. Pour the dressing over the vegetable mixture and toss thoroughly until every strand is coated. Season generously with salt and black pepper.
Rest and serve. Let the coleslaw sit for at least 10 minutes before serving so the flavors meld and the squash softens slightly. Serve chilled or at room temperature alongside grilled meats, sandwiches, or as a standalone lunch.

Nutrition (per serving)

Butternut Squash Coleslaw — A Garden Table Before the Canning Begins