Apple season is here and there are so many yummy recipes for apples. With summer holidays over and kids back in school I’ve been trying to get back into the regular routine and that includes healthy dinners because we indulged a lot during our holidays! So instead of a high cal dessert recipe, this weeks recipe is a healthy but still totally delicious Asian Apple Carrot Salad Dressing, a riff on ones I’ve had at various sushi restaurants on their simple green salads and also on raw seafood salads.
I have A LOT of apples to pick and use right now. I call my espaliered apple tree, “The Little Tree That Could”, because despite it’s size, it has consistently given me soooo many apples. They are a small apple but nicely tart and sweet so good for eating plain or cooking with and I will definitely be sharing more apple recipes in the near future. (Espaliering trees is really neat and a fantastic technique for small gardens. To read about espaliered trees, check out this link.)
This salad dressing is thick but full of vitamins and retains all the fiber because it is pureed not juiced raw carrot, apple, onion and ginger. The dressing has very little added sweetener, salt and oil so you can feel free to load this on your salad. For a vegetable based salad start with sturdy greens and add in some avocado, cucumber, asparagus, beans, radishes or even chunks of apple or orange. To make it a raw seafood salad slice up some sashimi grade tuna, salmon or scallops. Oh yum, I’m getting hungry now!
Japanese Carrot Apple Ginger Dressing
Tangy and so full of flavor. Made from a base of pureed fruit and vegetables, it is healthy and full of fiber.
Ingredients
- 2 c Apples, Peeled And Coarsely Chopped
- 1 c Carrots, Shredded
- 1/4 c Sweet Onion, Peeled And Sliced
- 2 tbsp Ginger, Peeled And Sliced Thinly
- 1/4 c Rice Vinegar *Could substitute Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Mirin *Could substitute Maple Syrup
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
- 1/4 c Vegetable Oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste I used 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
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Prepare fruit and vegetables, slicing the ginger in rounds to cut through the tough fibers.
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Add first 7 ingredients to your blender (do not add the oils at this point or else it won't chop up as well) and blend on high until it is a thick puree with no lumps. Scrape down sides after 1 minute and then continue to puree. My blender took approx 4 minutes to achieve the right consistency.
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Add in the oils and blend again for 1 minute, then season with salt and pepper to taste.