With a fresh, crisp, mildly sweet profile from the apples balanced by the tangy acidity of the dressing, this is my favorite salad and it is great paired with barbecue sandwiches or fish. Even friends who don’t usually like coleslaw tend to like it. This is very fast to make entirely from basic pantry ingredients. I often make it for weeknight dinners and can autopilot the recipe or riffs on the concept in under 10 minutes. The key for my speed is to build the dressing in the bowl (I even leave the large spoon in the bowl waiting for tossing duty) and shave everything on top directly into the bowl using a mandoline. It might take longer to clean the mandoline than to make the salad. Then, either cover and refrigerate for later use, or toss the salad when ready and serve. Making this ahead has the benefit of letting the dried herbs rehydrate a little in the dressing for improved flavor and texture--or use some fresh herbs if your have them on hand. Scale up to feed a crowd. While vegetarian as written, this can be made vegan with good results using a vegan mayonnaise or simply replacing the mayo with a reduced amount of olive oil and sticking with brown sugar or maple syrup. This coleslaw keeps remarkably well if you have leftovers. Enjoy!

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