Let’s not beat about the bush here … I hate shop bought coleslaw. There, done. Supermarket coleslaw—and the one from a fairly well known fast food chicken outlet, which I won’t mention—swamped in mayonnaise and sweetened to death, is just not for me. Coupled with the fact that we have a lactose-free person in the household—which means no mayo or sour cream in sight—we haven’t had coleslaw in the house for years. Until now!

I don’t know why I didn’t come up with something earlier, but making chicken burgers the other night, and over the basic salad of lettuce and whatever else, it dawned on me that you really don’t need mayo or cream to make coleslaw. So … here’s our light and tangy, and super-easy, version of coleslaw, and it’s vegan!

Cool Coleslaw—serves 6 as a side dish

What you need: ¼ small savoy cabbage finely shredded, ¼ small red cabbage finely shredded, 1 medium carrot grated, finely chopped green ends of a couple shallots (spring onions) optional.

Dressing: the dressing is based on a simple French vinaigrette with a twist.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice (fresh is best), 1 small garlic clove crushed, and 1 good teaspoon of Dijon mustard.

What you do: toss all the veggies together in a bowl and set aside. Whisk all the dressing ingredients together (using a mini whisk) until well blended and pour over the veggies. Toss well. This will give you a light coating of dressing on the coleslaw; if you prefer your coleslaw wetter just add more of the dressing.

If you don’t want to make your own dressing just buy a classic French dressing and add the garlic and mustard, but be careful as most dressings contain sugar and salt—sometimes in ridiculously high quantities.

And check out our healthy burger recipes at Burgers are Back! in the Food & Wine tab.