Barbara Edwards, the reader who sent us this recipe, wrote that every time she served this salad, the men in the group would "lick the platter clean." We found the women in our test kitchens were crunching on it as happily as the men. The creaminess and tang of cottage cheese and mayonnaise offset the edge of onion and the crispness of cabbage.

Ingredients

1 (2 1/2-lb) green cabbage outer leaves discarded
1 medium onion halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 cups 4% cottage cheese (preferably small-curd; 16 oz)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or to taste
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper