Spring V: Tatsoi Salad with Ketchup and Mustard Dressing

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Tatsoi is a fantastic vegetable to eat raw. It has a strong flavour without being bitter, tough, stringy, or tooth-coating like spinach. Mixing up a salad dressing from whatever is in the cupboard is a great way to enjoy spring greens, and I wanted something a spicy and a little sweet - something that could stand up to the tatsoi.

I tried using Chinese tahini in the dressing, but it seized up every time I added another ingredient. I later learned this is completely normal, I had just never run into it before because every time I've used tahini it was in a blender recipe. Cooking 'unplugged' definitely helps you develop a deeper feel for ingredients.

A creamy dressing of mayonnaise mixed with ginger juice and a little sugar tasted fine, but too much dressing clung to the leaves and made the salad soggy. (Everyone has food quirks - I happen to hate leafy salads that are too wet. The greens have to be bone dry before I will dress them. I even use a hair dryer.) This vinaigrette worked much better - 1/2 tbs olive oil, 1/2 tsp prepared mustard, 1 tsp ketchup, 1/2 tbs white wine vinegar, and a pinch of sugar, just enough for one bowlful of leaves.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love raw veggies all year round and the health benefits are enormous as well as the uncooked enzymes found only in raw vegetables are necessary for maintaining human life. Great information on raw foods-lets get back to basics.