Spinach Salad with Carrot Ginger Miso Dressing and Pepitas

I have definitely noticed an improvement in my salads.

There are salads and then there are salads. And by the latter kind of salads, I mean meal-sized salads. Size alone does not make them appropriate for meals.

Leafy green salads used to have me perplexed. Growing up, a simple salad was usually always served before a meal, with lettuce, tomato and cucumber and a light vinaigrette. My penchant for one-pot meal-in-a-bowl dishes had me rethinking my views on traditional salad.

One of my goals last year was to simplify my kitchen, with a focus on sauces and dressings with fresh vegetables supported by beans and whole grains. My salad jar revolutionized my lunch meals.

So let’s just say I made lots of dressings last year and this is definitely one of my favourites: carrot miso. Using vegetables themselves in the dressing adds a body typically derived from oil. Since you puree the carrot, it is a thicker dressing than I am used to… more akin to a sauce.

Sadly, this salad didn’t really travel as well in my salad jar. Most likely because it didn’t have the vinegar heaviness found in most of my dressings. The vinegar essentially pickles the bottom layer of vegetables when packed in advance. In this case, I wound up adding the dressing right before serving.

A few years ago I made a different avocado salad with a carrot-ginger dressing. It was an appetizer, a starter to a potluck with friends. This time, I made this as my meal. I added lots of veggies like cucumber, tomatoes and grated carrots along with chickpeas for protein and avocado and pumpkin seeds for fat (and crunch!). The sweet tangy dressing brought it all together. In fact, I think this dressing was even better than the heavier carrot-ginger version I made earlier. I guess my taste buds are a changin’….

This is my submission to this month’s Anyone Can Cook Vegetarian Food for Substantial Salads and to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays.

Green and Orange Salad
Inspired by Shutterbean

Baby spinach
Cucumber, thinly sliced
Carrot, grated
Orange (heirloom) tomatoes, chopped
Chickpeas (cooked)
Pumpkin seeds
Carrot Miso dressing (see below)

1. Toss all ingredients together.

Carrot Ginger Miso Dressing
Adapted from Choosing Raw

3 very large carrots (270g), coarsely chopped
2 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp low-sodium tamari
1 tbsp lemon juice
10g date paste (or dates, to taste)
1 inch ginger, peeled (5g)
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
3/4 cup water

1. Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Thin to your desired consistency. If you don’t have a high-speed blender, steam your carrots and soak your dates prior to blending.

Makes 1.5 cups.