Sichuan Slaw

One of my favorite things to do every day is to read the NY Times, and in particular their Dining and Wine section (Under Style -ya!) Bittman is a huge favorite of mine and I love his no-nonsense, healthy, foodie column. So, when he spoke about 101 salads for this summer, I knew I'd find something there. I'm not a salad person. And being an Indian, the first time I saw people grappling at leaves with their forks, I was quite amused :) I tried it myself only to hate it. All because I thought you need a lot of the dressing to make up for the leaves. And all this snobbery when I'm a vegetarian. But now, I'm a convert. Some salads can be tasty. Especially when the dressing does not overpower the actual flavour of the ingredients! Like the Sichuan Slaw. Salad no. 6. As long as it is evil to my hips, even partially ;)

May I say that this salad was as good as great, trashy Chinese take-out that we so enjoy on those depressing nights? Now, I totally understand texture, the amount of dressing to be made, the punch of flavour in soy sauce...the toastiness of the sesame oil. If I'm waxing about the salad so poetically or like a food connoisseur (which I'm not), you can imagine how good it is. As I write this, my mouth waters! I can eat this salad through the year and not complain. The sprouts are crunchy and fresh, the carrots lend the sweetness along with honey in the dressing, the green chillies satisfy my Indian tongue and the peanuts are just the icing on the cake with the sesame oil rounding it all up to create a fantastic feeling in the mouth. Indians will identify the texture to be like a good road-side chaat!

The ingredient list is not measured. I threw in things together, much like the way Bittman's described it. So, please adjust seasonings and the components of the salad per your taste. We all have these ingredients, and trust me, nothing is simpler.

Ingredients

Sprouts - They are the basis of this salad, so use fresh ones and I used around 2 cups
Carrots - Grated or shredded. I grated one carrot
Peanuts - a handful
Cilantro - 1/3 cup - Do add them, because it does magic visually.
Mint - 1 or 2 sprigs, finely chopped
Celery (acc. to Bittman's recipe. But I didn't have it, so didn't add this)

For the dressing:

3-4 green chillies, minced.
Ginger - grated - 1/4 tsp or so ( My addition to the original recipe)
Lemon juice - Per your taste. I used more than a tbsp
Soy Sauce - I used about one tbsp
Sesame oil - 1-2 tbsp
Honey - Just enough to take away the searing heat of the green chillies ( Bittman says to add sugar. I chose to add honey)
Basil (Bittman recommends all the three herbs - basil, cilantro and mint) However, I didn't have any, so didn't add any!
Salt - Per taste

1. Pile all your ingredients in your salad bowl. There's no major chopping really, apart from the carrots, and maybe shelling of peanuts.

2. Make the dressing: Mix all the ingredients and make sure to taste it. If it turns out to be too spicy (I used a lot of green chillies for the amount of dressing), go ahead and add some more honey. I also added some extra soy sauce and sesame oil to increase the amount. So, its totally upto you.

3. Pour dressing over salad and mix well. Eat!

Other additions that I thought could make this better were, maybe some roasted garlic? Or, even, some garlic chips sorta thing? Shredded tofu or marinated tofu, made crisp by pan frying or baking? Noodles may be great too! What else do you think can go into this salad? I intend to make this again and I'd love to hear you give your suggestions on this.

I'm actually considering trying out every vegan/vegetarian salad in this list except for a few with a couple of veggies I hate! With an aim to shed some pounds, I love the idea of following a list like this (keeps me sane!) and certainly helps in planning out a meal. The last thing you want to do when you are on a diet is constantly think of what to eat - something that won't pile on the pounds! So, this list works fantastically well in planning my grocery trips. And most of the ingredients are so easily available and almost always stocked at home. So, you don't have to buy dressings, or any expensive, extra ingredients!

I found out through Twitter that Kellypea of Sass And Veracity is doing the same exercise. Go figure out the fun she's having with all the salads. For all you non vegetarians - she is planning to cover all the 101 and the salads sure do look pretty there! :)

So, please do yourself a favour and make this and let your taste buds tell your hips who the boss really is! ;)