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Recipe for Garden Walk Pepper Slaw

What to Do with Surplus Cabbage

Sep 4, 2009 Stephen Allen Christensen

When it's time to surrender to the weeds, the bugs, and the premature frosts, it's nice to know that all of that extra garden produce can be put to good use.

The loopers are running roughshod over the garden, and (despite one’s best efforts to control them) they are decimating the summer’s last remaining cabbages. Even if the caterpillars hadn’t been a problem, the few heads that haven’t been picked are beginning to burst, having matured before their predecessors in the refrigerator could be consumed.

One of the dubious burdens shared by ambitious gardeners everywhere is an overabundance of produce at the end of a growing season. In some cases, what cannot be canned, stored, or bequeathed to the neighbors (who now board up their windows whenever they see someone carrying a basket of vegetables their way) ends up in the compost heap.

When there are too many cabbages in the larder and the family is growing weary of eating coleslaw, many gardeners turn to making sauerkraut—an exacting, tedious process that is fraught with pitfalls and potentially bad outcomes.

Fortunately, one doesn't have to submit to the vagaries of manufacturing sauerkraut. One simple alternative—Garden Walk Pepper Slaw—requires a leisurely stroll through the garden to collect the basic ingredients, a bit of rummaging in the spice rack, a hot-water bath or steam canner, and a handful of canning jars.

Garden Walk Pepper Slaw

Ingredients

8 cups chopped cabbage (2 medium heads)
3 cups chopped or shredded carrots (5 large carrots)
1 large bell pepper, cored, cleaned, and chopped
1 large sweet pepper, cored, cleaned, and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 ½ tablespoons canning salt
2 ½ cups 5% acid strength cider vinegar
5 wide-mouthed pint canning jars with rims and lids

Method

Combine sugar, vinegar, and spices in an 8-quart pan or kettle. Bring to a boil.
Add chopped vegetables.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat and ladle mixture into hot pint jars, pressing slaw down gently so it is covered by vinegar syrup.
Fill each jar to within ¼-inch of jar rim.
Wipe jar rims and place lids.
Process in hot-water bath or steam canner for 15 minutes. Start to count processing time after water in canner returns to boiling.
Remove jars from canner, cool, and label.
Serve cold.

Slaw can be consumed immediately, but aging for six to eight weeks enhances flavor. Garden Walk Pepper Slaw is a quick substitute for salad in the middle of winter when schedules get frayed and the family only comes together late in the day. It also adds a flavorful touch to a midday repast when combined with soup and a sandwich.

The copyright of the article Recipe for Garden Walk Pepper Slaw in Recipes is owned by Stephen Allen Christensen. Permission to republish Recipe for Garden Walk Pepper Slaw in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Garden Walk Pepper Slaw, Preserving Cabbage