Thursday, September 18, 2014

Aloha Salad with Ginger Lemon Dressing

This one is for my friends. You know who you are!!


So I have a passion for leafy greens. I love them. They make me happy. This salad is happy. It is worth a party in your mouth or in the very least a dance!

There is something exciting for me about making salads. Yes, this is true. I love the challenge of finding a new salad recipe to make. Thinking outside the box when it comes to combining colors, textures and flavors together. In the end...celebration!!  

In the past year I have enjoyed experimenting with dressings. Homemade, fresh and full of flavor! So I truly hope you enjoy this one...it's a tangy kinda sweet pop in your mouth. 


My rule to making salads: When making salads, add lettuces first, then add dressing. Mix dressing with lettuces. Then add toppings and ONLY mix the top layer of lettuce with the toppings. If you mix and toss the entire salad and the good "Yummies" fall to the bottom, then you don't get the right balance on your plate. And yes, everyone will get "Yummies" with their salad as they serve themselves if you don't toss it all together in the beginning. The toppings naturally fall to the bottom of the bowl. To do this, I take the knife that I am chopping with and stick it in the salad and lift the lettuce up so that it creates air pockets for the toppings to fall into without all of it falling through. I do that a few times. This will also naturally mix the top layer of lettuces with the "Yummies". 

So lesson for today: Salad is Exciting, A Mixture of Colors, Textures and Flavors, Deliciousness that makes your taste buds dance and A Science (not a true science, because I never measure things). And FUN!! Love your Salad and Trust me, it will Love you back!!! 

Ingredients: *Make sure everything fits nicely on a fork. So nothing chopped too large.

Baby Spinach, loosely fill the bowl 2/3 way to top
Romaine Lettuce, washed & chopped to fill the rest of the bowl
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage, Asian (which I used in the picture) or Purple, which would look prettier-back to the colors of the salad make a great salad.
2 Red bell peppers, chopped
1 cucumber (I love English cucumbers), seeded and quartered
1 large mango, chopped How to Cut a Mango
1-2 large carrots, shredded
3 green onions, chopped
1 cup Macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup+ Ribbon Coconut or Coconut Chips

Dressing:

2 oz Coconut Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar will work.
2 oz Avocado Oil (I didn't have any on hand, that's why you see Lime Oil in the picture)
1 Tb Agave or Honey
1 Lemon: Juice & Zest from entire Lemon
1 tsp fresh ginger, pealed 
1 huge Tb or 2 oz coconut butter 
1/4 cup chopped sweet yellow onion
Salt and Pepper to taste

To make dressing: 
Place all ingredients in blender (not seeds from lemon), make sure that lid is on and blend till incorporated. The dressing will thicken a little. 



To assemble Salad: 
Add spinach, lettuce and cabbage evenly to top of bowl. Mix in dressing with lettuce. Then add toppings or "Yummies" according to size. Add cucumbers, mango, peppers, carrots, nuts, coconut and green onions. Lightly lift the lettuce to let some of the toppings fall through and serve and Enjoy!! 


And to my new BFF friends...You are the BEST! A huge and squeeze goes out to YOU! Thanks for loving me AND my salads :)

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