COLE SLAW! Dang it.

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EmbeeKay
EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So this is my favorite coleslaw recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robert-irvine/cole-slaw-recipe0 SO simple and good. I bought Splenda to replace the sugar and was happily chowing away on what I thought was an extremely low calorie side dish (I used the recipe builder to import about a month ago). After two or three times of making this, I scrutinized the recipe more closely and saw that the recipe builder, Instead of adding 8 ounces of mayonnaise, had instead added .8 tablespoon. When I corrected the amount to a full cup of mayonnaise (I should've known better, I guess), my "low-calorie side dish" became a WAY HIGH calorie side dish. I feel like a total doofus!

Anyone else been WAY off in logging the calories of something like this?

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  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,076 Member
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    I often replace mayo with greek yogurt in dressings. yogurt has a better profile than mayo, although, since things aren't emulsified as they are with mayo dressings, it separates after a day or two. For some salads, it's better to make up the batch of dressing, then mix it with the salad on the serving day to stretch out the serving life.

    Made last night, and used as leftovers tonight, this red cabbage-carrot-celery-red onion slaw has a pretty conventional coleslaw dressing (somewhat less than average sugar), but uses whole milk plain greek yogurt rather than mayo, and is "lightly dressed." MFP recipe builder tells me 90 cals, 3g fat, 15g carb and 4g protein per serving.

    ywdm2pq6prdn.png


  • darkenergie
    darkenergie Posts: 27 Member
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    I've done that before too, unfortunately, when creating my recipes. Have you tried lite miracle whip? I love red cabbage slaw using that, Apple cider vinegar, some Splenda, diced Apple, and fresh grated ginger.
  • EmbeeKay
    EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
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    Thanks guys! I was wondering about using Greek yogurt- I use it for tuna salad- but I was thinking the mayo in coleslaw adds necessary richness so I was afraid to try it, especially with the rest of the family already liking the way I usually make it. I will experiment with yogurt and see how I like it!

    And miracle whip is a great idea too. I personally hate miracle whip but I bet it would be good in a coleslaw mixed with other ingredients. And I happen to have some that a family member left at my house, so I should try that too.
  • EmbeeKay
    EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
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    mjbnj0001 wrote: »
    I often replace mayo with greek yogurt in dressings. yogurt has a better profile than mayo, although, since things aren't emulsified as they are with mayo dressings, it separates after a day or two. For some salads, it's better to make up the batch of dressing, then mix it with the salad on the serving day to stretch out the serving life.

    Made last night, and used as leftovers tonight, this red cabbage-carrot-celery-red onion slaw has a pretty conventional coleslaw dressing (somewhat less than average sugar), but uses whole milk plain greek yogurt rather than mayo, and is "lightly dressed." MFP recipe builder tells me 90 cals, 3g fat, 15g carb and 4g protein per serving.

    ywdm2pq6prdn.png


    Can you tell me the ratio of ingredients (or the recipe) you used for your slaw?

  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,076 Member
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    800 g cabbage (1 head - I split the weights of the 2 heads I purchased Sunday as totaled on my grocery receipt, accepting a slight inaccuracy for MFP logging purposes), 5 peeled carrots, 1/2 cup red onion, 150g celery (3 large stalks) - all shredded by food processor. 1:1 replacement of 3/4 cup mayo by yogurt (I happened to have on-hand a quart of Stoneyfield Whole Millk Organic Greek Plain I was using up), 2T sour cream, 3 level tsp of sugar (recipe suggests 2T, so this is about 40%). Apple cider vinegar, celery seed (not celery salt - we're going low-sodium), 1T dry mustard (gives a little kick, you might want to reduce this). Since I wanted "lightly dressed" as a further calorie reduction, I added the dressing in bit by bit to get the amount I wanted. Had some left over. I think the original dressing recipe came from Bobby Flay (because of the mustard zing). I just have a note paper in my kitchen binder, and would have to scrounge through my browser bookmarks to be sure. As pictured, it made a good side to BBQ chicken.

    1. yogurt works well, especially Greek-style, as a substitute for mayo in many things, but - it breaks down faster, in a couple of days, as the whey continues to separate out of the solids. It's still good to eat (I like to kid folks that "it's yogurt, it's ALREADY spoiled! LOL"), but it does get unpalatable. Sometimes, I leave surplus salad components undressed and re-mix then toss the dressing on subsequent days to lengthen the leftover's life. I do this, for instance, in a deli-style macaroni-veggie salad that goes to our barbecues - a big batch is not usually eaten in one sitting.

    2. Full-fat (i.e., whole milk) yogurt works best. Lowfat less so and nonfat, well, um, best to say it's not my preference, LOL. Even whole milk yogurt is lower in cals than most mayos. I buy plain yogurt - greek and regular - by the quart for dressings of all sorts, marinades, smoothies and just to eat. I usually stick to Stoneyfield, Cabot and the store brands as to what's available - plain yogurt is sometimes hard to get and I don't have the patience to make my own as I did years ago. I shop at two stores regularly for things the other doesn't carry.


    I'm going to use the second head of red cabbage tomorrow or Wednesday for dinner as an Asian-style slaw, with some variant of citrus-ginger-sesame-etc. dressing. Still working on exactly what. No yogurt in that dressing, LOL.

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