Recipe: Ribbon Salad w/ Ume Dressing (Vegan)

I am virtually friends with this woman named Kim. Virtually, not as in ‘almost’, rather as in, Facebook. Our mutual friend Allyson introduced us a month or so back and we hit it off immediately. After a successful (and enviable) career in the fashion industry in Manhattan, Kim has now settled into suburban life in the Midwest. Procreator and wife, she still has a brain that needs stimulation and seems to get a lot of that from food and cooking.

Kim got me into homemade kale chips.

The other day she asked (on Facebook) if I had any ideas for shaved asparagus spears. She had been making a salad of them with lemon juice and Parmesan. It sounded fabulous and gave me impetus to create another recipe.

At the same time, my friend Jen (the runner) was singing the praises of flax seed oil and Ume plum vinegar in salad dressings. She told me she whipped up a dressing the other day that was so tasty, she took secret sips of it.

Love.

Food.

Friends.

Virtual, or flesh and bones– I love my friends.

What these two women inspired is a salad worth making for anyone interested in eating.

Dressings

2 tablespoons ume plum vinegar (buy it on health food stores or Asian markets)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 small clove garlic, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon shallot, minced

1 tablespoon flax seed oil

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon mayonnaise or vegenaise

Whisk the first 4 ingredients together then drizzle the next 2 ingredients in and add in the mayo(vege)naise. Whisk well until smooth. Keeps refrigerated for one week.

Salad

1 bunch, thick asparagus

2 baby zucchini, or one medium, cut into 1/4s lengthwise

1 large carrot, peeled

1 small beet, peeled

Roasted, pumpkin seeds (optional)

1) Lay the asparagus on a counter top. Using a vegetable peeler, shave off thin ribbons of asparagus, while holding the spear flat on the counter to keep it rigid. Do the same with the zucchini quarters. The carrot and beet are more dense and can be held in your hand as you shave off their pieces.

2) Boil a teapot full of water. Place the only the asparagus and zucchini ribbons into a colander in the sink and pour the boiling water over the vegetables in the colander. Allow to drain then mix them with the raw carrot and beet ribbons.

3) When you are ready to serve, toss all of the veg with the dressing (you will use most, if not all of it). Arrange on a platter and scatter pumpkin seeds over top.

Serves 2-4 main courses, 6 sides

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