Edamame Salad with Tahini Ginger Dressing

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Edamame: This recipe calls for frozen shelled edamame. There are multiple ways to cook it, and they will be listed on the package. I simmer them in salted boiling water, which only takes a few minutes, so the prep time is minimal.
• Cucumbers: For salads, I prefer English or Persian cucumbers, also called mini cucumbers. Their skins are more delicate, and they have far less seeds than regular cucumbers.
• Red peppers, orange or yellow bell peppers are my go-tos for the salad. Avoid green peppers because they are more bitter and won’t have the same sweetness.
• Cabbage: To make it easy, I buy a bag of shredded cabbage. Even though I don’t use it all for this recipe, I find myself tossing the extras in other salads including a classic house salad, which is very different than this one. You can’t beat that crunch.
• Carrots: Just like the cabbage, I buy shredded carrots at the grocery. It is up to you if you would rather take whole carrots and cut them with a box grater or the shredding disk on your food processor.
• Scallions give the salad mild green onion flavor. You can substitute with finely chopped red onions.
• Cilantro: With the veggies in this salad, chopped cilantro makes sense for fresh herbs. If you aren’t a cilantro fan, you can add more sliced scallions.
• Sesame seeds are a nutty finishing touch to go with the tahini dressing.
• Tahini ginger dressing: It has tahini, minced garlic, fresh ginger, salt, pepper, lime juice, soy sauce and vegetable oil. Since soy sauce contains wheat, the dressing is not gluten free unless you substitute with tamari. Always read the label make sure that brand of tamari does not have wheat. 

Optional Additions

You can make one or more of the following additions to the salad:

• Cooked grains or noodles: Try quinoa, brown rice or soba noodles.
• Nuts: Chopped almonds and peanuts are both great options.
• Avocado, diced, gives the salad even more texture with something creamy.
• Protein: Roasted or grilled chicken, shrimp or salmon are good in the salad. To keep it plant-based, go with tofu.

How To Make This Edamame Salad Recipe

1. Cook the edamame. Follow the instructions and recommended cook time on the package. I generally find that it simmers in just 2-3 minutes. Be careful because you don’t want it to turn out soft. It should still have some bite. Rinse the cooked edamame with cold water in a colander to stop it from continuing to cook.

2. Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl. That includes the edamame, cucumbers, red bell peppers, cabbage, carrots, scallions, cilantro and sesame seeds 

3. Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk the tahini, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, lime juice, soy sauce and oil

4. Drizzle the dressing into the salad and toss to combine. You can start out with part of the dressing and add more as needed.

Serving

This edamame salad is great with dishes with Asian flavors such as this tofu vegetable stir-fry, soba noodles with mushrooms and bok choy, sheet pan teriyaki tofu and broccolini, kung pao tofu, cashew veggie stir-fry or honey garlic tofu.

Leftovers & Storage

You can store the salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days. The cucumbers, carrots, cabbage and peppers will lose a little of their crispness. Keep leftover dressing into a separate container. This will help it maintain more of its crunch.

Allow leftover salad dressing to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before you serve it. Then the oil has a chance to turn to liquid again. The chill of the fridge usually hardens it.