Two Salads

Last night we ordered sushi from our favorite Japanese restaurant. Mmmm–avocado rolls, asparagus rolls, and vegetable rolls. Sushi, even sushi made only with vegetables, is ridiculously expensive, so I try to keep costs down by ordering less and making side dishes at home. Normally I make miso soup and edamame, but last night I decided to make a couple of salads.

We started the meal off with a simple green salad with a Sesame-Miso-Ginger Dressing. I started with a bed of baby spinach and other lettuces sprinkled with some pre-packaged broccoli slaw. To make the dressing, I used my hand-blender to combine the following:

1/4 cup red miso
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 tablespoons mirin (Japanese rice wine)
2-3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
several pieces of pickled ginger

Grated fresh ginger or even ginger powder will also work in this recipe, and you can add more water as needed. Warning: it’s a very concentrated dressing, so just drizzle it over your salad.

The second salad (which I actually made first) we saved for dessert: Persian Fruit Salad. I began a recipe on this page when half-way through making it I realized that I didn’t have any orange juice or enough bananas. (When will I ever learn to check for ingredients before I start cooking?) This adaptation was the result:

2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 oranges, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small red grapefruit, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup chopped dried figs (I used 1 pkg, which I think was 10 ounces)
1 banana, sliced
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup water
6 pitted dates
1/8 cup chopped almonds

Combine the apples, oranges, grapefruit, figs, and banana. (Note: be sure to cut the little stems off the figs first.) Put the lemon juice, water, and dates into the blender, and blend until liquefied. Pour over the top of the fruit and toss to coat. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Shortly before serving, sprinkle with the almonds.

If your fruit isn’t very sweet, you may add a little agave nectar or other sweetener, but I liked it just this way.