Nutty Salad
My version of a Fresh salad I found on Pinterest. My version didn't look anything like the original recipe because I used what I could find in my grocery store, and I made it to my taste. I thought it was yummy! It was a salad that I pretty much ran most everything through the food processor, so making it was easy!
My version of a Fresh salad I found on Pinterest. My version didn't look anything like the original recipe because I used what I could find in my grocery store, and I made it to my taste. I thought it was yummy! It was a salad that I pretty much ran most everything through the food processor, so making it was easy!
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 jicama julienned
- 2 carrots julienned
- 1 beet julienned
- 1 cucumber julienned
- 1/2 cup raw peanuts chopped
- 1 lime sliced into wedges
- 3 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
- peanut lime dressing
- 3 cloves garlic minced (about 1 tbsp)
- 2 tbsp tightly packed cilantro
- 3 tbsp natural peanut butter
- 2 lime for juice
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp ginger (powder)
- 1 1/2 tsp organic sugar
- 3/4 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 cup sunflower oil
- salad topper
- 1/4 cup craisins
- 2 tbsp sliced almonds
- 2 tbsp hazelnuts chopped
- 2 tbsp pistachios chopped
- 1/4 cup peas roasted, salted
- 1/4 cup puffed kamut
- 1 head napa cabbage shredded
- Carbohydrate 25.531401437921 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 24.6229228223639 g
- Fiber 7.31150004334266 g
- Protein 5.77296149850388 g
- Saturated Fat 5.24270737780759 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (248g)
- Sodium 32.9834312512481 mg
- Sugar 18.2199013945784 g
- Trans Fat 1.36094312547315 g
- Calories 326 calories
Step-by-step
- In food processor, or with a cutting board, shred the first 5 ingredients and put them in a large bowl.
- Rinse out your food processor and make the dressing. If you don't have a food processor you can use a blender.
- To make the dressing pulse all the ingredients except for the sunflower oil. Once everything has been pureed, drizzle the sunflower oil in the thin stream until the dressing is emulsified.
- Chop all the nuts on a chopping board, add the peanuts to the large salad bowl, set aside nuts for the toppings. Slice lime.
- You can serve the salad, dressing, toppings, and lime separately if you wish, or you can dump it all together in a great big bowl and mix it all up. I actually drizzled only half of the dressing I made onto the salad, mixed it all up, and served the toppings and lime wedges separate so the topping didn't get soggy.
Swapping the napa cabbage for standard green head cabbage drastically alters the moisture release. Green cabbage is denser and holds water tighter, requiring a 15-minute salt purge before mixing to prevent a watery puddle at the base of your bowl. Processing raw vegetables demands specific tool control. Utilizing a food processor grating disc rather than standard blades prevents vegetables from turning into mush. The machine works efficiently for firm roots like beets and jicama, but julienning by hand yields cleaner structural edges if time permits. Emulsifying the peanut dressing requires a slow, steady stream of sunflower oil while the machine runs. Adding oil too quickly breaks the suspension, resulting in a greasy separation rather than a creamy coat. Keep dressings separate from crunchy elements like roasted peas and puffed kamut until the exact minute of consumption. Storing dressed components past four hours softens the outer layers of the seeds, destroying the intended auditory crunch. Pairing this rich, oil-heavy vegetable dish with a clean, vinegar-forward broth provides structural contrast. Heavy peanut butter coats the palate thoroughly. Acidic broths reset the tongue between bites.
Emulsification Science
Thick peanut butter needs agitation to accept liquid fat. Garlic and ginger paste act as secondary binders alongside apple cider vinegar. Pour the neutral sunflower oil in a pencil-thin stream over thirty seconds. Stop the motor immediately once viscosity thickens to a glossy finish. Excessive blending heats the natural oils, making the mixture bitter.Texture Preservation
Raw roots oxidize quickly when exposed to ambient air. Toss shredded beets and carrots with lime juice immediately after processing. Acid halts enzymatic browning. Keep topping seeds in a dry container at room temperature. Moisture ruins toasted hazelnuts and pistachios within hours.
