A Tasty Blend of Edamame and Colorful Fruits/Veggies with Cilantro Dressing

I was inspired to post this recipe by my co-worker Ms.C. Davis who sometimes brings this delicious looking root salad with Edamame seeds and dill dressing, that I think she gets it from a local vegetarian restaurant. I must say it always looked very appetizing along with roasted root veggies.
I decided to omit the roasted root veggies and came up with my own version of blend of veggies and fruits that I like along with Edamame and with cilantro dressing.

So I went shopping for all the ingredients which are as  follows:

Ingredients for Cilantro dressing: 
1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, thick stems removed
Juice from a large 1/2 fresh lime or 1 small lime
2 cloves of garlic
1 fresh Jalapeno pepper seeded if do not want dressing  to be hot
1-2 green onions chopped

1 cup of home made plain yogurt (recipe on this blog)
1/2 cup of fat free sour cream
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
1 teaspoon of white vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper powder (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin powder
Salt to taste

Method for Cilantro dressing:

Chop and puree all green ingredients in food processor.
Add all the liquid ingredients puree until creamy and smooth.
Add all the seasonings and adjust to taste.
Serve cold with salad and refrigerate the rest.

Suggestions: 

You can follow same recipe for fresh  dill, fresh mint or fresh  basil dressing by substituting cilantro or adding these greens along with cilantro.
Also if you want to add a little zest to it, you may add 1/4 cup of  shredded seedless cucumber to this dressing (will need to drain all the water by squeezing the shredded cucumber in to a ball) to make cucumber cilantro dressing.

 

Ingredients for salad:

1 cup of frozen Edamame thawed and microwave for 1 min
1 cup of frozen peas thawed and microwave for 1 min
1 cup of frozen or canned corn kernel
1 can of beets (small round) cut in to small pieces
1 can of garbanzo beans (chick peas) drained
1 red pepper chopped in to small pieces
1 yellow pepper chopped in to small pieces
1 red onion cut in to thin rings
6-7 small red radishes cut in to thin slices
1 small cucumber sliced or cubed
8-10 grape tomatoes cut in to halves
3 bunches artisan lettuce hand broken to small pieces
6 oz of spring mix lettuce (blend of Argula, baby spinach, baby lettuces: green and purple chard, romaine 
6-7 strawberries sliced
1 small can of Mandarin oranges drained
3 long carrots shredded in to julienne
1 cup of Sunflower seeds or slivered almonds for topping

Method:
Chop and prepare all the ingredients.
Toss them together or keep them separate and let people serve themselves to their desire.
Top with toasted sunflower seeds or slivered almonds.
Top with dressing.

 

 

Can be served with any dressings, I also enjoy this salad with raspberry vinegrette.

Yum ! A very delicious and healthy salad with a wonderful surprise in each bite :)


Enjoy !!

Photographs by Surekha, recipe inspired by Ms. C. Davis, adapted by Surekha.