In a previous post I shared my “recipe philosophy” for successful Meal Making Transformation. Because we need meal making to be manageable enough to do every day, we need manageable recipes, too.
That’s why I’m starting this recipe with last week’s simple Green Salad with an Asian Twist so you can build on an already-familiar idea and just modify it a little by:
- Adding a couple enhancements to the dressing, and
- Substituting some diet-diversifying salad toppers
Note that roasted beets are one of the toppings, so plan ahead and roast some beets for dinner the night before; use the leftovers on the salad. I always cut mine into matchsticks and roast in the slow-cooker so it’s almost impossible to burn them.
Spring Greens with Ginger Cilantro Dressing
3-4 Servings
The Dressing
Start by making the dressing so the flavors can meld and the ginger can mellow in the lime juice while you prepare the salad itself. All amounts are given as a range; adjust for your tastes. The dressing will come out quite thick and rich with all of the added cilantro.
Combine in the cup of an immersion blender or small food processor and then blend until it is well mixed but still has a little texture:
- 1-2 Tbsp. finely chopped or grated ginger
- 2-4 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice (use enough to cover the ginger completely)
- 1-2 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. Shichimi, a spicy Japanese condiment that you can get through Savory Spice, or 1-2 shakes of cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup neutrally flavored oil like refined sesame or peanut, or canola or safflower (olive oil can also work)
- 2 cups roughly chopped fresh cilantro, including stems
The Salad Base
- Salad Greens
- Yellow pepper, thinly sliced
- Fennel, shaved (which means sliced almost paper thin), or celery
- Roasted beet matchsticks
- Pumpkin seeds or almonds
- Sauteed chicken breasts or white beans (for a meal salad)
The Real Salad vs. The Mousy Photogenic Version
For the main photo, I kept the salad small and simple for a nicer looking photo. But what I actually ate was piled with vegetables! Think about this when you next have a salad.
P.S. The greens were the first from my garden. They had actually been growing under a plastic cover all winter!