My Junior League Moment Amounts to Slaw

An occasional series in which staff members share a recipe that we turn to time and again:

Over the past 15 years, I've lived in six cities and moved 15 times. The experiences broadened my horizons and expanded my tastes, as they were meant to, but the real lesson I learned was to pack light.

For years, I owned no furniture; I just picked up what I needed at the local Ikea. Clothes? Black goes with everything. The toughest thing to pare down was books, especially cookbooks.

But one book has gone almost everywhere with me: "San Francisco Flavors: Favorite Recipes From the Junior League of San Francisco" (Chronicle Books, 1999). It's not the hippest title, to be sure. (This book amounts to my only run-in with the Junior League.) But the recipes, some of which come from chefs such as Thomas Keller, are fresh, accessible and reliable.

The book focuses on seasonal dishes with Asian and Italian influences that permeate the Bay Area dining scene. Even though it was published 10 years ago, the recipes don't feel dated. I'm as happy to make (and eat) bruschetta with flageolet puree and wilted greens, zucchini-stuffed pork chops with mustard sauce and raspberry-fig galette now as I was in the '90s.

The one I make most often is an Asian coleslaw. It was one of my first and only forays into cooking with such flavors. (I'm a Mediterranean girl at heart.) This recipe is as delicious as it is unintimidating, and the refreshing side dish pairs with almost anything. I've served it on cold pork sandwiches, alongside grilled shrimp and as a base for a steak salad.

Best, the recipe is infinitely forgiving. (Love ginger? Add more. Don't have peppers? Leave them out.) Indeed, I've made this many times over the years without referring to it as printed. So I was a little surprised by how much slaw there was when I tested it for publication. The recipe calls for three small heads of cabbage -- Napa, red and Savoy -- plus carrots and peppers. The original yield said six servings. By the time I was finished, I had enough for more than 12.

I've scaled back some of the ingredients, and the recipe still makes a lot. But if you do have leftovers, you won't be sorry; the slaw's flavor improves with a few days' refrigeration.

Recipe for Asian Tri-Cabbage Coleslaw