This is a great entree salad that can be made with what you have on hand. However, it’s so good that I often will buy ingredients specifically to use in this salad.
The dressing is made with Tahini and Miso, a couple of long-lived staples that are always in my fridge. The salad ingredients can be a hodgepodge of fresh vegetables, and frozen or pantry items.
One ingredient that I always have on hand and that makes the salad really “pop” is ginger-pickled cabbage. I’ve been making it and keeping it on-hand for what I estimate to be the last ten years or so. I don’t know where I got the idea, but I don’t even really have a recipe. I just throw a bunch of shredded red cabbage in a jar, add a pinch of salt, some pickled ginger (the kind you eat with sushi – you can get it in jars in most supermarkets), and then cover the cabbage with seasoned rice vinegar or regular rice vinegar and a couple of TBSPs of sugar. Then in a day or two , you have beautiful, bright purple, slightly sweet and tangy pickled cabbage. It’s great in salads or as a topping for seafood or veggie tacos, or as an addition to a sandwich or wrap. I make mine in a pickle press that a bought for a couple of dollars at an Asian market. It’s just a screw top plastic jar with a spring “press” that compresses the cabbage to expedite the softening, and releasing its natural liquids.
Asian Salad with Sesame-Miso Dressing
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients (choose as many as you like)
- lettuce
- spinach
- mizuna
- mixed greens
- cabbage red, green, napa, shredded
- carrots juilenned or shredded
- red yellow or orange bell pepper, juilenned
- green beans blanched, then frenched or chopped
- snow peas blanched, then sliced
- sugar snap peas blanched, then sliced
- radishes thinly sliced
- red onion thinly sliced
- scallions thinly sliced on the bias
- celery thinly sliced on the bias
- edamame
- cherry tomatoes
- broccoli blanched then chopped
- mandarin slices
- pickled red cabbage see note above
- Optional Proteins: cubed tofu chicken or veggie chicken, shrimp, peanuts
- Optional Toppings: fried won-ton wrappers chopped peanuts, chow main noodles, fried shallots. sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, thai basil, cilantro, mint
Dressing
- Makes 2/3 cup dresssing
- 2 TBSP miso
- 2 TBSP tahini
- 4 TBSP seasoned rice vinegar or 4 TBSP unseasoned rice vinegar and 1 tsp sugar
- 1 large clove garlic
- 1/2 inch knob of ginger grated or finely minced
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- water as needed to thin to desired consistancy
Instructions
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a mini food processor or blender and blend to combine and emulsify.
- Toss dressing with desired salad ingredients and serve.
