A recipe you might like

Since living alone for the first time in over 40 years, and now being retired, I've been enjoying having time for all the creative endeavours that I enjoy: drawing, painting, textile art, knitting, crochet, book binding and now, a new interest, cooking (I've been cooking for decades but as a chore rather than a creative endeavour - the difference is amazing!). The combination of having more spare time and the desire to make my diet healthier has led me to adopt the same creative approach to cooking as I have to my other creative interests. 

 As with all creative projects, the combination of meeting a brief while exploring new creative ideas is, at the same time, challenging, interesting and fun. So, my self-appointed brief: my meals should be healthy, colourful, tasty and not boring. 

 Today's lunch: what I have called a Waldorf coleslaw. Since I enjoy both coleslaw and a Waldorf salad, I decided to try combining them and adding a few extras of my own. I had some toast with it, but it is a complete meal in itself. 

 The salad: 

 cabbage: for 2 helpings around a quarter of a small sweetheart cabbage, shredded 

a small to medium sized carrot, grated 

an eating apple, grated (or chopped if you want chunks of apple) 

a spring onion, chopped (I find raw onion a bit too strong for my taste, but if you like it, by all means use that instead) 

a stick of celery, chopped 

a large handful of walnuts 

a small handful of raisins 

crumbled or diced feta cheese to taste 

 The dressing: 

 extra virgin olive oil 

cider vinegar

a pinch of Marigold bouillon powder (or salt if you don't have the bouillon powder) 

a few grinds of black pepper 

about a half teaspoon of maple syrup for sweetness 

a few drops of Tabasco for warmth 

2 dessertspoons of kefir natural yogurt (or ordinary natural yogurt)

a pinch or two of ground turmeric (I put this in most things I make as it is anti-inflammatory and it helps with my arthritis - black pepper helps the body use it) 

Put all the dressing ingredients in a glass jar and shake well to combine. (A note from my personal experience - do make sure the jar is firmly closed before shaking!) 

 The quantities of the dressing ingredients I'm afraid I never measure, I just use what my mother in our north-east of Scotland dialect would call "a suppie by guess". A suppie means a small amount. I guess it's just experimentation (the creative part). I taste as I go along. If I get it wrong I sometimes have to add things to put it right and land up with enough dressing to last in the fridge for ages. 

 Using the above ingredients, I made enough for two servings and have one in the fridge ready for tomorrow when I know I'll be busy. If you try this, do play around with the recipe and quantities until you find something to suit youself.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.  If your one, with your own extra or substituted ingredients is really amazingly good, please share it with me!