Happy Hump Day, Lovelies!
Salads often get a bad reputation and even in my pre-health conscious and pre-vegan days I would scoff at the idea of eating a salad. I thought it was nothing more than soggy iceberg lettuce, underripe tomatoes and perfect cucumbers (because cucumbers are always perfect, aren’t they?) and then life happened.
I started to care more about my health, the world around me and of course, the animals. It turns out that those cares were the perfect combination to unlock the next level of food love; recognizing salad for the amazing dish that it is.
Why?
Many reasons. First, colors. The perfect salad is a veritable rainbow of colors from the many shades of greens found from spinach to Romaine lettuce, the red, orange and yellow of gorgeous, juicy tomatoes and the vibrant colors of bell peppers and carrots. Toss in a few cucumbers, some sprouts and a radish or two and you’ve got a dish that gorgeous and delicious.
Next? The nutrients found in a rainbow-rific salad. Beta-carotene, the much needed alphabet of vitamins and of course all the minerals that keep us with glowing skin, shiny hair and ace immune systems.
Another thing? Salads are easy to make. All you need is a knife, cutting board, salad spinner and a big mixing bowl. Make sure everything is rinsed and dried, and you have a delicious and healthy vegan meal in under thirty minutes.
One of my favorite things about the perfect vegan salad recipe? It is wickedly low in calories. You can get a big ol’ pile of vegetables for like, 200 calories. Add in your favorite vegan meat alternative or a good chunk of protein and you might up it to 300 if you really try.
Okay, enough waxing poetic about the amazing, leafy salad and let’s get on it with. Today’s vegan salad recipe is one of my favorites, ramen noodle salad. The main difference is that today I’ve added shelled edamame beans as my protein source.
Kitchen Tools:
*Cutting board
*Kitchen knife
*Mixing bowl
*Whisk
Ingredients:
*Lettuce
*Scallions
*Cucumbers
*Sprouts
*Carrots
*Yellow bell pepper
*Edamame beans
*Chili pepper
*Pickled ginger
*Lemon juice
*Soy sauce
*Rice vinegar
Instructions:
*Bring 2 pots of water to a boil for the edamame and noodles. Add in your edamame beans, boiling for 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water and then set aside. Cook noodles according to package instructions.
*Chop the lettuce and rinse it, drying it well before adding it to a large salad bow.
*Slice the carrots and cucumbers into matchsticks, however thick or thin you want. Chop the rest of the vegetables and add them to the salad bowl.
*In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, lemon juice and rice vinegar. Set aside.
*Add the edamame beans to the bowl and toss until blended before adding the vegan salad dressing. Toss again and serve over a bed of noodles. Toss or not, the choice is yours.
*ENJOY!
And if you’re so inclined, satisfy your thirst with an icy triple hop Belgian IPA.
The Spicy Spatula 
Leave a reply to Dorothy’s New Vintage Kitchen Cancel reply