creamy blue cheese and walnut coleslaw

Jump To Recipe July 15, 2014 // 13 Comments »

Creamy coleslaw recipe with blue cheese and walnuts added in. It has a little dill and peppery radishes. It is a delicious low carb and gluten free side dish to serve with beef or pork.

Since settling in at our new lake cottage, we have had a steady stream of visitors coming to see us and our new digs every weekend. Friends we haven’t seen in forever have come to stay with us. And some of our friends who we see more often have come too. Everyone wants to come see our new slice of heaven. And we are happy to have them all! We have spent a lot of time out on the boat, swimming, making lemonade stands, fishing, playing lawn games, playing tennis, going for runs or walks and then finally gathering around the table for a big meal and maybe sitting by a fire on the beach before heading to bed on the screen porch. One of the nights our guests included a professional flamenco dancer and classical guitarist. They played for us, sang and danced on the rocks!

It has been kinda amazing.

I am a little tired though because it has been a whirlwind of activity. This week the girls and I are here, with not a big to-do list. My dad and brother are coming for dinner tonight. I made this coleslaw to serve them. I actually made this same salad last weekend for another group of friends. I had sort-of thrown it together and as I did, I thought to myself, I wish I had been more disciplined in my recipe writing and actually tested this as I went. It went over so well that night (I served it with pulled pork sandwiches and sweet potato salad- that totally needs to make an appearance on the blog too) that I knew that I would have to make it again, test it, and take some pics.

Speaking of pictures. Have I updated you all about the Focus on Photography Challenge? It is now in its fourth month, and it is going great. We are having a really fun time with it. If you weren’t here when I described it before, here is what it is all about. It is a group of food bloggers who are interested in improving their photography skills. Emily of Jelly Toast came up with the idea and has organized the whole thing. Every month we come up with a new challenge for the group. So far some of the challenges we have had are to include non-food props in our images and another one was to include a sense of action or capture a decisive moment in a photograph.

This month our challenge was to take a photo outdoors. Which can be kind of tricky because when you are outside it can be hard to control the light. I decided to try taking these photos outdoors. I set up these shots on our porch here at the cottage. I think I will try for some more of these later in the month. Maybe that show more of the environment.

I am really enjoying the group because it is pushing me outside of my comfort zone.Every month, I have thought, oh that wasn’t so bad, I’ll add that into my work all the time.

If you’d like to follow along with us for the challenges follow our pins here or if you are a food blogger and you would like to join the group send me an email.

Back to this coleslaw. I can’t take credit for coming up with the idea of adding blue cheese to coleslaw. I had blue cheese in coleslaw for the first time back in 1998. I was living in San Francisco and I was working for a small interior design firm. The owners, a husband and wife duo took all of the employees up to their house in Napa for an employee party and they made us an amazing meal. Since that happened so very long ago, I can’t say I remember what else was served at the meal. But I will never forget the the coleslaw they made. It was so fresh and crunchy and then it had big pops of blue cheese in it. It rocked my socks. I think theirs also had fresh shelled peas. Which I think would be amazing. So would some sunflower seeds. I decided to use radishes, since we are still getting amazing local radishes. And toasted walnuts, since blue cheese and walnuts go together so well. I also added in some Tabasco sauce because, well that’s the right thing to do when it comes to blue cheese.

The other night the pork was great with this creamy coleslaw for sure. But it is worth mentioning that all of these flavors are really a great choice for serving with beef. Since beef and blue cheese are so awesome together. I think this tomato rosemary marinated flank steak would be off the hook with this coleslaw.

More Coleslaw Recipes:

Cucumber and Napa Cabbage Coleslaw

Sesame Coleslaw

Maple Flank Steak Tacos with Zippy Slaw

Hot and Sweet Slaw with Jerk Spice Salmon

Kohlrabi Fennel Slaw with Blue Cheese and Walnuts

Kalyn’s Kitchen | Asian Coleslaw with Peanuts

Rachel Cooks | Reduced Fat Coleslaw

Running to the Kitchen | Sweet Honey Dijon Red Cabbage Slaw

Spiced | Quick and Easy Classic Coleslaw with Buttermilk

Averie Cooks | Skinny Mayoless Cabbage Salad

Don’t miss this Ultimate Guide to Cabbage!