Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Salad That Saves Lives

With a name like that, I hope you now have huge expectations. This salad generally pulls through and seriously impresses.

A cousin passed this on to me - who knows where it came from - but I like to think that she named it. It's an asian style coleslaw and if it tickles your fancy, feel free to add tofu or shrimp. In the past I have served it with chicken satay and peanut sauce, brought it to a picnic, and recently was asked to bring it to a family dinner. It makes a huge amount and only starts to taste better when it sits in the dressing overnight. Good luck!

THE SALAD THAT SAVES LIVES
Dressing
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
3/4 cup teriyaki sauce
2 tbsp sesame sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
2 chopped garlic cloves
2 tbsp sesame seeds

Salad
Chinese cabbage (it's light green and more long, narrow, and ruffled -for lack of a better word- than regular cabbage), thinly sliced
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced or grated
1/2 cup toasted and coarsley chopped cashews
8 oz can of water chestnuts (I leave these out often, but they add good crunch)
cilantro

Shrimp or Tofu
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp lemon zest/juice
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp sriracha hot sauce
Shrimp or tofu
*This is optional. Let the shrimp or tofu sit in their marinade while you make the dressing and chop the salad, then mix it all up together at the end.

This is a kitchen sink salad. While I consider the rice wine vinegar, teriyaki, lemon juice and sesame oil to be the important flavour back bone, feel free to give it a kick in another direction. If you don't have something, don't sweat it. Every time I make this, it ends up a bit different and thats good for me.



Enjoy!!