I’m trying to use post-holiday leftover ingredients in my refrigerator while heeding some good advice in a delightful book called Secrets of Longevity. The author, Dr. Maoshing Ni, known by his patients as Dr. Mao, comes from a long line of famous Chinese doctors and is an authority in Taoist anti-aging medicine. His combination of Eastern traditional medicine with Western scientific advances is distilled in this book into one- page common sense actions. Reading but a small section a day imparts you with a lifetime of health knowledge.
This vegetarian dish (in fact, vegan for those who desire) has healthy protein from edamame, important enzymes and antioxidants from miso, herbal qualities from cilantro, DHEA from sweet potato (yes, I learned that from the book), and additional vitamins from the red pepper. But, most of all, it is delicious – a splendid combination of crunchy, tangy, sweet, and earthy.
1 bag of frozen, shelled, organic edamame (10 oz)
1 large sweet potato
1 large red skinned potato
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 roasted red peppers, in 1 by 1/4” strips (Mediterranean Brand Organic)
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
Dressing:
1/4 C olive oil
1 T white miso (South River sweet white)
1/2 inch length of peeled fresh ginger root
2 T rice vinegar (seasoned Marukan)
Run cold water over a strainer with the frozen edamame to begin thawing process while potatoes are cooking. When beans look thawed, allow to drain.
Cut potatoes into 1-inch slices and steam in steaming basket over 1 inch of water until a sharp fork is just able to pierce the potato. The sweet potatoes will finish first, remove and run cold water over them to stop cooking. Do the same with the white potato. If you are fussy about the looks of the salad, peel potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch chunks.
Bring 1 inch of water to boil in 2-quart saucepan, add 1 tsp salt and edamame – cook covered over medium heat for 5 minutes until edamame is just tender to the bite. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Allow to drain thoroughly while preparing dressing.
If you have a stick blender (gotta love ‘em) place all dressing ingredients in a tall narrow container and blend with blade to emulsify ginger with the dressing. Otherwise, mince ginger finely and place all ingredients in blender to emulsify. Place all salad ingredients in serving bowl. Dribble dressing over salad mixture and gently (ever so gently) toss with 2 forks. A votre santé.
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