Classic Cole Slaw
(Serves 8-10)

1 head cabbage (shredded)
2 large carrots (grated)
4 C Miracle Whip*
4 T cider vinegar
2 T sugar (or more to taste)
salt to taste

Quarter cabbage and shred, using a grater or a mandolin-type slicer. Combine with carrots. In a separate bowl, blend Miracle Whip with vinegar, sugar and salt. Mix into salad and chill for at least 2. Serve along side Texas-Style Ribs or any of the chili recipes. 

Tips & Glossary: Tex-Mex

Hot, hot, hot!  For many that’s the pleasure of Tex-Mex food. But if you’re sensitive to throat-burning, eye-popping peppers, then turn down the heat. Just reduce the peppers in these dishes. 

• Avocado: use only ripe avocados with dark purplish-brown skins. If you have any unused avocado (why would you? But say you do…), rub the flesh with lemon juice to keep it from browning.

• Chili Powder: dried ground chili peppers typically mixed with cumin, garlic powder, and oregano.  You can make your own blend, adding cinnamon, cloves, coriander, paprika, and nutmeg.  Briefly heat dried peppers in a skillet to release flavors, then grind them into powder.

• Chili Pepper: any small hot pepper, as opposed to larger, milder bell peppers; includes, cayenne (red), chipotle (smoke-dried jalapeños), habanero, jalapeño, paprika, poblano, serrano, and tabasco.

• Chimichanga: a deep fried tortilla, filled with rice, beans, cheese, or meat, and folded into a rectangular packet. It's thought to have originated in Arizona.

• Coriander:  also known as cilantro and Mexican or Chinese parsley. Both fresh leaves and dried ground seeds are used in Mexican, Mid-East, Asian, and Indian cuisines.

• Cumin: an aromatic kin to theparsley and carrot plant; an important ingredient in chili powder.  Used especially in Indian curries, but also in Mexican, Thai and Asian dishes.  It has an earthy, peppery flavor.

• Enchilada:  made using corn tortillas, dipped in a sauce, filled and rolled up.  They are placed in a casserole dish, topped with sauce and cheese, then baked.

• Quesadilla: (kay-sa-dee-ya), literally, “little cheese thing.” In Tex-Mex cooking it has come to mean a sort of grilled cheese sandwich, using two tortillas filled primarily with cheese, grilled in a skillet or griddle, then cut into wedges.