Health + Wellness

Ginger Sesame Slaw


Here’s another hit from our Contributing Food Editor, Christine.  

Ginger is a real powerhouse against disease – it is an anti-inflammatory, a big cancer fighter (works for that nausea from chemo, too) and also helps with diabetes and arthritis.  I take a ginger supplement every day on the advice of my cancer nutritionist.

This easy (and economical!) slaw is a great way to incorporate some goodness into a yummy side dish or light lunch salad.  Take it away, Christine!

christineberardi

Watching the weather report this year has started to make me feel like I’m living in the movie “Groundhog Day” with snow storm after snowstorm burying us in more than double our normal snow levels.

When the weather is yucky out it can be tempting to indulge in wintery comfort foods which are great but after a while can start to leave you feeling heavy and sluggish. My simple slaw is a great way to get out of that mac and cheese rut and get something fresh, raw, and healthy onto your plate even when there is snow on the ground.

I used some of my pantry staples for this recipe. None of these ingredients are hard to find in any supermarket with an Asian section and, except for the ginger, have a really long shelf life.

Rice vinegar, sweet rice wine (aji-mirin), toasted sesame oil and fresh ginger are things that you should keep in your pantry all the time. I use variations on this dressing for hearty soba noodle salads, on mango salsa to go with broiled fish, to toss with brown rice for a whole grain salad meal or to soak cucumbers for a fresh quick pickle.

Rice vinegar is lighter and a little less sharp than wine or cider vinegars. It also has a more neutral flavor, allowing flavors  like ginger to have more impact

Sweet rice wine or mirin is a sweet version of sake and is used only used for cooking. It adds a mellow sweetness and helps seasoning cling to the foods it is coating. Its sweetness balances the sharpness of the vinegar.

Toasted sesame oil is nutty and rich, used as a “finishing” oil instead of a cooking oil because of its full flavor. A little goes a long way which makes sesame oil great for adding a lot of flavor without a lot of unnecessary fat. I keep my sesame oil in the refrigerator to preserve  its flavor and freshness; warm oil can become rancid and taste awful if it’s left for too long.

 Gingerimage

Fresh ginger-As I was tossing this slaw in a large mixing bowl, I got a big whiff of the dressing and the fresh ginger was an instant mood booster! Fresh ginger is great for stomach upset, for circulation, to improve appetite, to relieve nausea, the list goes on and on. But it also tastes fabulous (and completely different than dried ginger). It brightens the flavor of anything it touches and in this slaw, it enhances the sweetness of the dressing and the red peppers, plays off the freshness of the cucumber, and mellows the cabbage.

 GingerSesameSlaw2

 

Recipe

Ginger Sesame Dressing

5 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sweet rice wine

½ teaspoon sea salt

1-1 ½  tablespoon ginger juice (squeezed from a 2 inch knob of ginger)

1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil

Mix the rice vinegar, rice wine, and slat together in a bowl.

One a large box grater, grate the whole knob of ginger, skin and all into a coarse pulp. Grab the ginger pulp and holding your hands over a bowl, squeeze as much of the opaque yellow ginger juice out or the pulp. Once you have a tablespoon or two of the ginger juice you can stop squeezing (the leftover pulp can still be used to make lemon ginger tea or flavor a marinade so don’t throw it away yet)

Whisk the sesame oil into the rice vinegar mixture. It won’t emulsify like a vinaigrette because there is so little oil but this will help the dressing distribute through the slaw evenly

Slaw:

10- 12 ounces finely shredded cabbage (about ½ medium head)

1 red bell pepper

3 scallions

1 English cucumber or 2 smaller thin skinned cucumbers

Cut the curved top and bottom off of the bell pepper so that it forms a straight cylinder. Cut through one side of the cylinder from top to bottom and flatten the pepper out into a long strip. Trim any of the white ridges inside and slice the pepper from top to bottom into thin strips.

Slice the cucumber on the bias, trying to get as much surface area as possible. Remove the two ands and stack the slices to line up the edges. Slice them into long strips.

Cucumber1

Cut the scallions into thin rounds. Toss the cabbage, peppers, cucumbers, and scallions together in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the slaw and toss gently to coat. Serve within an hour or so for a nice crunchy salad, or let it sit in the salt and vinegar longer for a more tender slaw.

GingerSesameSlaw1

Follow Christine’s blog at www. cognitiveleeks.wordpress.com