Pantry MD

I am sorry to be so sporadic with my posting lately.  I start chemo tomorrow morning but the good news is that all of the scans have come to an end, so I won’t be running around quite as much.  Once I know how the chemo will affect me, I can get a more regular blogging routine down.  For now I would like to share this great recipe with you.  It comes from Rebecca Katz’s first cookbook, One Bite at a Time.  I had the honor of meeting Rebecca Katz at a seminar that she put together called, “The Power of Yum”.  She was such an amazing and sweet person.  I have so much to share with you about that seminar and I will certainly do in an upcoming post very soon. 

What I really like about this salad recipe is that it is a great portable lunch salad.  It is light and refreshing but still quite sustaining because of the protein and fiber in the edamame and rice.  As a stay at home mom, I find myself eating lunches out often in parks, etc.  It is nice to have a recipe like this that can be made ahead of time and just pop it in the lunch box, add a piece of fruit and we have a healthy lunch.  The only thing that I did different from the recipe was to use slivered almonds instead of cashews because that is what I had on hand and I also used about half of the sesame oil that the recipe calls for.  I also found that after the salad sat in the refrigerator I needed to add a splash more of rice vinegar.

Recipe: (salad)

• 2 cups Japonica rice cooked according or instructions and cooled
• 1 cup shelled edamame beans
• 1 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced

Dressing

• 2 T brown rice vinegar
• 3 T tamari
• 1 T minced fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 tsp cayenne (I used a tsp of hot red chili sauce)
• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 1 tsp toasted seame oil
• 3 T fresh lime juice
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp maple syrup

Garnish

• 1 cup toasted cashews (or almond)
• 1 T fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup basil, chopped
• 2 tsp fresh lime juice

Method:

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix combine rice and other salad ingredients.  In a separate bowl, mix together dressing.  Toss salad and dressing together.  Add garnishes and toss.  Taste and adjust seasoning with a dash of tamari, maple syrup, or acid (either lime of vinegar)