'Hottest Day of the Year Salad' (Recipe!)
A heat-wave has hit the Twin Cities, and today we're set to hit the high 90s. Personally, I love it! This recipe (aka Spicy Raw Green Bean Salad) is perfect for hot weather. Since it's raw, there is no actual cooking that involves heat; just a bit of prep and mixing up of ingredients for the dressing. But it's so delicious, I'd eat it any day of the year: Serve it as a side or on a bed of brown rice (make sure to pour a little bit of the dressing from the bottom of the bowl to make the rice more delicious) for a heartier meal. Additionally, as with the Ayurvedic tradition, the spicy heat in this salad might get you sweating, which will in turn cool you off. A truly perfect dish to bring for a picnic or as part of an evening meal on the patio.
What's more, I bet you can get a pound of green and yellow wax beans right now from your local farmer's market for just a few bucks, which is exactly how much I paid for the beans used to create this recipe. Fresh, local, organic ingredients: the building blocks of good, healthy food. I hope you enjoy!
Spicy Raw Green Bean Salad
Gluten free, dairy free, grain free, raw
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1# green and yellow wax beans (or just green is fine)
Dressing:
1 T. sesame oil
1 T. rice vinegar + 1 T. lime juice (or 2 T. of one or the other if you don't have both)
1 T. maple syrup
1 T. garlic chili paste (Sambal Oelek, only the one that has garlic: the product is red and in a clear plastic jar with a green top; available at co-ops or Asian grocery store)
1 T. tamari
3 large cloves garlic
1/2" peeled ginger
1 small shallot
Handful of cilantro, chopped
4 scallions, chopped (use the whites and part of the greens)
1 T. toasted white sesame seeds (add some black if you want to get extra fancy)
Kosher salt, to taste
Method:
Wash the green and yellow wax beans and pick of the stems. Dry beans well, so that the dressing will adhere. Mix the first five dressing ingredients in a small bowl. If you have a food processor, whiz up the garlic, ginger, and shallot altogether until finely chopped/minced. If not, chop finely and add to the wet dressing ingredients. Add the cilantro, scallions, and sesame seeds, saving some of each out to garnish your salad when you serve it (#thinklikeachef). Toss the green and yellow wax beans with the dressing, and add salt to taste (in this recipe the source of sodium is the rather small amount of tamari - I generally use the low-sodium version- so I did add a big pinch of salt to taste.). You can adjust pretty much all of the ingredients here to your tastes. For example, want to up the heat? Add 1 t. (or more) more chili garlic sauce. Like tang? Add another squeeze of lime juice. Love cilantro like I do? Add more, and enjoy!
