Avocado Wasabi Salad
Yes, I know. It’s a salad.
Who wants to go to a vegan website and see a recipe for salad? I keep salads to an absolute minimum around here. So when one does show up, it’s a freakin’ delicious salad.
And this one is definitely freakin’ delicious.
I’ve had the idea of an avocado based salad dressing kicking around in my head for the last few days, and an avocado kicking around my kitchen counter. This salad is easy to throw together, and is a great entree salad, or a side salad for a dinner party or some such get-together.
The dressing is rich, and despite the title, is pretty damn tasty even without the added wasabi. You have my permission to leave the wasabi powder out altogether if you don’t like it or can’t find it.
I don’t know if my wasabi powder is old and has lost its kick, or if you need a massive amount of it to make things spicy (anyone with experience want to weigh in?), but this dressing was as mild as the day is long. It added a great flavor, but no heat. You may wish to add in your own wasabi powder slowly, tasting as you go, just in case yours is spicy.
The other ingredients are simple but flavorful as well. Pan-fried wasabi-soy chickpeas, sauteed broccoli, toasted almonds, and shredded carrots. I find this mixture goes particularly well together, adding crunch, sweetness, protein, and color. And they all pair wonderfully with the dressing.
Speaking of the dressing, it’s pretty ugly stuff. This isn’t something you’re going to want to serve on the side for your guests. Toss it with the lettuce and then serve it. Just trust me on this one. You’ll see when you make it.
Avocado Wasabi Salad
Serves 4-6
Greens of your choice for 4-6 people
1 Carrot, shredded
2 tsp Vegetable Oil, divided
1/2 to 3/4 Cup Broccoli, chopped small
1/3 Cup Toasted Slivered Almonds
1 Recipe Wasabi Chickpeas, below
1 Recipe Avocado Wasabi dressing, below
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Wasabi-Tamari Chickpeas
1 tsp Oil
1 Cup Chickpeas
1 tsp Wasabi Powder
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 Tbs Low Sodium Tamari/Soy Sauce
Avocado Wasabi Dressing
1 Ripe Avocado, diced
2 tsp White Wine Vinegar
3 Tbs Hummus, plain or garlic
1 tsp Stoneground Mustard
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Wasabi Powder
1/4 to 1/3 Cup Vegetable oil
Begin by whisking the dressing ingredients together, except for the oil. Whisk until smooth. If your avocado isn’t super ripe, you may wish to blend the dressing in a food processor. Slowly add oil until emulsified and the dressing is smooth, refrigerate until ready to use.
Toast your almonds in a dry pan over medium heat if they are not already toasted. Set aside.
In the same pan, add 1 tsp of oil and add broccoli. Sautee over high heat until the broccoli is beginning to color in spots and is bright green, but still tender-crisp. Sprinkle lightly with salt and set aside.
Add the second teaspoon of oil to the same pan and add the chickpeas. Reduce heat to medium-high. Cook the chickpeas until they are golden on all sides, using a spatula to loosen them as necessary, but don’t worry if they stick a little. Add the wasabi powder, sugar, and tamari and stir well. Remove from pan and set aside.
In a large bowl, add your salad greens. Add the broccoli, 3/4 of the chickpeas, 3/4 of the almonds, and 3/4 of the carrots. Toss with enough dressing to coat. Plate the salad, and garnish the top with the remaining chickpeas, almonds and carrots. Crack fresh black pepper over the top. Serve immediately.
If you are serving the salad later, do not add the dressing until the last minute.
PS – I have a new “like” button down there over the comments if you want to heart a recipe without commenting. :) And if you’re interested in what I’m cooking, and what us in line for the blog, become a fan on facebook.
um, count me in!
This looks good even though I’m not usually excited by salad!
Regarding your wasabi powder lacking punch, this trick that I use for Chinese mustard powder also works for wasabi powder:
Mix it as directions in a bowl, but make sure it’s more on the dry, pasty side and not so wet. This is important because step 2 is to turn the bowl it’s in upside down so that it kinda hangs upside down for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, it’s ready to eat.
I don’t know the scientific reasoning behind this, but I swear it makes my mustard and wasabi more spicy!
I’m always happy to see a salad on a site, as long as it is as interesting and delicious looking as this one! I think the wasabi powder is always weak but the pre-made paste is much better. I’ve given up on the powder all together.
so when you say chickpeas… you mean the cooked kind right (possibly canned)? I’ve seen other recipes for chickpeas cooked this way, but I just want to be sure.
i love salads! or rather: cold meals. especially those that consists of only favourite ingredients… chickpeas, avocado, wasabi…. yum!
that is one interesting salad….i am sure it IS freakin’ delicious!!!
I’m actually thrilled to see a yummy salad recipe like this. I really like salads but hardly ever make them because I can never think of anything that sounds that great. I’m usually a great improviser, too!
This looks awesome. Thank you!
Wow this recipe sounds delicious (and looks it). i am so glad to see you’re back into posting yummy recipes!
I, for one, love salad. Esp. ones I haven’t seen before….like this! Love the idea of wasabi tamari chickpeas- so happy you’re back!
I’m also a little confused by what kind of chickpeas should be used.
Wasabi in a salad. Now that is one to try and with chickpeas whcih I always enjoy eating.
I am assuming you are using ready cooked/tinned chickpeas here.
This looks amazing!!! And actually, my hubby and I try to eat a big salad for lunch every day, so we DO like to find salads (or at least salad dressing recipes) on vegan sites or in cookbooks :D
this isnt just any old salad! it looks fantastic and i especially like the idea of avocado and wasabi coming together in the dressing! thanks for the recipe :)
Damn, this looks amazing! I’m not a huge salad person (my greens from Trader Joe’s always go bad before I can finish them) but I will most certainly be making this the next time I have a super ripe avocado on my counter top. Thank you for posting this!! gah, its 10:03am and I want a freaking salad now.
mmm
i will leave out the wasabi…but the rest sounds good
i love a good salad recipe–they are hard to come by!
Don’t be afraid of posting salad recipes! I rarely see salads on vegan blogs nowadays. Am I reading the wrong blogs?
Just made this. Excellent!
This looks amazing. If you have anymore salad recipes, please post away! I love salads, especially those with chickpeas. The dressing sounds really unique. I can’t wait to try it.
This looks lovely–a good brightener in mid-winter! I’ve really enjoyed a salad of tender greens with mashed avacado, sea salt, fresh-squeezed orange juice and pepper as a dressing. Just mash it all together with your hands. That simple, and delicious–if not pretty! My good friend made it for me and I was hooked.
Lauren, this looks like a winner! What a unique combination (and extra wasabi for me please.)
I have been vegan for a little over nine months now. And I am absolutely terrible at making salads. Although this one has a lot of ingredients, i found it didn’t take me too much time and I thoroughly enjoyed the end result. Whenever I go out to eat, I am never the one to pick a salad. But I had such great results from the recipe that I cannot wait to make it for my friends.
You were also very right about the dressing! I tried dipping my finger in it for a taste and I prefer it much better on the salad.
Welcome back, darlin’!!!! I squealed with glee when I checked out your page today! This recipe looks amazing! I am so excited I can’t cool it with the exclamation points!!!
This looks might tasty! I will try this, for sure. I have been missing your posts, and I’m glad to see you popping back into my google reader lately.
Your salads are the best in town and yeah even if u post one everyday-i’ll still be here and with fantastic combis like these i could eat salad for the rest of the days and keep coming for more…..
I know what I’ll be cooking for dinner tonight. :-)
Nice to have new recipes from you. You always inspire me.
Wow! That does look freaking delicious!
No issues with salad recipes here! Particulary when they have wasabi and chickpeas… mmm…
This looks fantastic! Salads are great, vegan or not, and this one has a lovely combination of ingredients :)
This does look delicious, and also looks quite easy to make. Will have to send it over to the health-consious S.O.
Dirk
Food Lovers Heaven
OMG, this is my DREAM SALAD!! :-) I’m not so sure about the broccoli…but if you say it’s good I’ll give it a try :-) Just have to check with my (vegan) nutritionist if i’m allowed to have avocado…being on a diet sucks sometimes :-P
This salad screams YUM. I’m going to try it tonight. Your recipes are the best!!
What a gorgeous, crunchy-looking salad! Wish I knew where to get hold of wasabi powder…
the dressing sounds awesome!
the spicy kick from wasabi seems to go perfectly with those crunchy veggi!
I’m looking forward to trying your dressing. I also make dressings with avocado, usually with ginger and lemon and sometimes some tahini, but I have never tried wasabi with my avocado.
By the way, I have been enjoying your new cookbook!
Cheryl
I made this tonight and it was very good. Thank you for another recipe of great inventiveness! We had it as the main dish tonight as a picnic in the local park.
For next time I will definitely double all the strong flavour ingredients (soy, wasabi, mustard). I used wasabi paste as I don’t think that we get wasabi powder here in New Zealand. I’m not sure whether that’s less spicy than wasabi powder but it gave a hint of flavour and no kick.
This salad looks awesome, and the recipe for the dressing sounds like the jam-and I’m not talking jelly here. I’m talking about rockin’ good!
I love salads and this one looks amazing. Must try it very soon.
Sounds incredible & I’m glad you mentioned about the wasabi powder b/c I tried to duplicate super-spicy wasabi mashed potatoes I had in a restaurant & had the same, mild result. Maybe wasabi paste is hotter?
I haven’t made the salad yet, but your photos make me want to eat my monitor :D I really love how simple it looks, but when you start looking deeper it seems the layering is quite on purpose. Great photos!!
Hi! I just wanted to say that I bought your cookbook last night. My daughter (16) is a new vegan and we are trying to support her in it. I saw your cookbook and loved it right away because of all the pictures! I LOVE a cookbook with lots of pictures! I made your lemon cranberry cupcakes today, and they are soooo good. There are so many recipes that I (a non-vegan) am dying to try!
Salad looks tasty.
Now that you’re back at the blog, are you planning on contacting your book testers? I know several who are still waiting to hear from you…
This salad was easy, tasty, and filling! It pretty much mashed all of my favourite foods and flavours together. I used wasabi paste, because I already had it in the house, and I got the same result as you did: a yummy wasabi taste, but no spice at all. I had to leave out the almonds because I’m allergic, but I LOVED the chick peas and broccoli. I’ll definitely be making this salad again.
Glad you’re back! =D
Great salald.. can’t wait to give it a try.
I don’t even care that it’s a salad! I love wasabi in anything. < title="HealthJunkie–Come see my blog!" href="http://healthjunkie-foodyouwanttoeat.blogspot.com"<HealthJunkie–Come see my blog!
Looks beautiful, and I love salads!
Nom nom nom sounds delicious! I will give it a try but completely ignore the wasabi :) (My taste buds refuse profusely!)
thank you for sharing!
Elizabeth.
This looks like a great salad. For the wasabi, try mixing it into a paste with a bit of hot water first and letting it rest for five minutes or so before whisking it in with the other ingredients. For some reason, the hot water brings out the heat more, if that is what you are interested in. I hope this helps.
Just curious, is there a reason you avoid garlic? I’m allergic, and was wondering. Your recipes rock, and it’s an awesome bonus that I don’t have to try to compensate for flavor loss from leaving out the garlic found in most vegan recipes!!!
Also, A+ to “Kinder”, who posted about supporting her 16-year-old daughter’s new vegan lifestyle!!! That’s awesome!