Spring Salad with Lemongrass Vinaigrette

The food I ate over the weekend was mad delicious. From Russian dumplings to tasty tacos, I left the city with a full, happy belly. However, the first thing I wanted to do when I got back home was to eat a BIG bowl of vegetables. I don’t know about you, but vegetables always take a bake seat whenever I’m traveling. Why bother paying for a salad that you probably can make at home when you can have Korean fried chicken and bibimbap with bacon? Let’s be real.

Even after three trips to Portland, I still haven’t ventured over to the famed Pok Pok. Eek! Shame on me. So, I decided to throw together this spring salad. If I couldn’t get a taste of Thai flavors over the weekend, at least I can make it at home!

MASTER MY MISTAKES / COOKING NOTES

• Notes on flavor: The lemongrass vinaigrette is tangy (from rice vinegar) and slightly spicy (from ginger and garlic). You can start with 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar in the recipe and add more 1/2 tablespoon at a time to get to the flavor you like. If you want the vinaigrette to be less spicy, use 1 teaspoon of grated ginger.
• Make it a meal: This salad is meant to be an appetizer, but you can make it a fuller meal by adding some avocado and your favorite protein! I had this salad with eggs and avocado, and it tasted wonderful.
• Roast leftover asparagus: As you’re shaving the asparagus, you’ll probably notice that you can’t shave off the entire stalk. Just save it for roasting or your stir fry!

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Servings: 4

Author: Lisa Lin

Spring Salad with Lemongrass Vinaigrette

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Ingredients

Salad

• 4 oz. tender-stem broccoli or broccoli corwns.
• 1/4 cup pepitas or pumpkin seeds
• 1 large head of romaine lettuce
• 1 cup of pea shoots, about a small handful
• 7 to 8 radishes, sliced thinly
• 1 large carrot
• 6 to 8 stalks of asparagus
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1 TBS chopped fresh mint, optional

Lemongrass Vinaigrette

• 2 TBS stalks of lemongrass
• 1 large clove of garlic
• fresh ginger
• 3 to 4 TBS seasoned rice vinegar, depending on your taste
• 1/2 TBS low-sodium tamari, use soy sauce if not gluten free
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 TBS sunflower oil, olive oil works also
• 1 1/2 TBS lime juice
• 1/2 to 1 TBS maple syrup, depending on your taste

Instructions

• Chop tender-stem broccoli into smaller pieces. Steam them for about 2 minutes, then place them in a bowl of ice water. This helps keep the broccoli crisp while you prepare the other ingredients.
• Lightly toast pepitas on a pan. Stir pepitas often to prevent them from burning. When they’re done, plate seeds.
• Rinse romaine leaves, and chop them to smaller pieces. Place in a large bowl. Add pea shoots and sliced radishes.
• Peel carrot and use your peeler to create carrot shavings. Shave asparagus with your vegetable peeler. Note that you’ll probably only be able to get about 4 or 5 shavings on a stalk. Just save the rest for roasting or a stir-fry. Add shaved vegetables to the bowl. Add tender-stem broccoli, pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, and chopped mint, if using.
• Prepare lemongrass vinaigrette. Remove the tough outer 2 layers of a stalk of lemongrass. Grate the larger end on a microplane, until you get about 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons of lemongrass shavings. Place in small bowl. Grate garlic and add to the bowl. Grate ginger until you get about 1 to 2 teaspoons of it. If you want a spicier vinaigrette, use 2 teaspoons. Add to bowl with other spices.
• Mix in rice vinegar, tamari, sesame oil, sunflower oil, lime juice, and maple syrup.
• Toss salad and drizzle with lemongrass vinaigrette.

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