Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Mostly Raw Asian Salad

Yesterday was the 4th of July and in traditional American fashion we celebrated with some grilled meat and brownie sundaes (OK I don't know how traditional brownie sundaes are for the 4th, but we basically just felt like indulging!).  Needless to say, we needed a bit of a "detox" from that incredibly heavy meal, so I made this light, cleansing, and mostly raw salad! 



The dish is made with a light, tangy peanut dressing which provides lots of flavor to cling to the raw veggies.  I added the cut vegetables to the dressing and let them sit for an hour to tenderize a little bit, but this step isn't really necessary.  If you are planning on having leftovers, keep the dressed veggies separate from the lettuce until ready to serve - that way the lettuce won't wilt!

Mostly Raw Asian Salad
serves 4

Dressing:
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp honey
1 T rice vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp toasted seasame oil
3 T peanut butter
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T fresh mint, chopped
2 T fresh chives, chopped

Salad
2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 large red pepper, cut into matchsticks
2 cups of broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
8 cups mixed greens

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients until smooth.  Add the carrots, pepper and broccoli and toss well to combine.  Just before serving, add 1/4 of the dressed veggies to 2 cups of mixed greens and toss well.  Sprinkle seasame seeds on top and serve.