Happy Spring, Yummies!

After a beautiful, warm Friday here in NYC, our weekend got progressively colder, and today it’s a cold, dark world out there.  Now it’s pouring, and it’s in the 30’s/40’s.  After dropping my son off at his play group this morning and splashing my way home, I was soaked to the bone.  With all of that and snow in the forecast for later on in the week, not to mention the very sad and dark things going on in Japan and in the Middle-East, it feels a little odd to have a Spring in our steps.

This time of year is a good time to have a few dishes under your belt that can swing both ways… not quite comfort food, but something that satisfies.  This spinach salad is smoky and filling from the tamari almonds and the tofu but feels just a little light because of the spinach and the edamame.

My children will only eat the salad without the dressing and without the spinach, but when we offered this salad to a few friends’ kids, they had varying opinions and tastes.  Nearly everyone wanted the edamame.  A lot of them would eat the tofu with that, some with dressing and others without it.  A couple (brothers with similar tastes) JUST wanted edamame and fresh spinach, no dressing please.

My advice?  Assemble all the components and let your family choose how they compose their salads.

While I normally do not buy a lot of tofu, because soy is not easy on tummies, especially little tummies, and because  the way it alters estrogen levels generally freaks me out, it does have other health benefits.  It is a very good source of protein.  Despite that high protein level, I find tofu to be the most incredibly bland, weird textured foods, but smoked tofu is a different bird.  It really tastes fantastic and interesting and like something you’d want to eat a lot.

The idea for this salad came from a place I used to hang out a lot when I lived in the East Village.  It’s called Ciao for Now and has super delicious everything.  It introduced smoked tofu to me, and it was only because every single thing that I had ever tasted there had been outstanding that I even would try that tofu.  Pure and simple?  Delish.

So here it is, a recipe for when the world is feeling a little dark, but you feel there might be some hope to be found.

Spinach Salad with Edamame, Smoked Tofu, Tamari Almonds, and Soy-Ginger Dressing

For the Dressing:

• 1 T. fresh ginger, grated
• 2 small cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T. sesame oil
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 T. mild honey
• 1/4 c. soy sauce (low-sodium is good here)
• 2 T. rice vinegar (or substitute with apple cider vinegar)
• 1 t. black pepper

1. Help your mini-chef measure all the ingredients into a jar with a tight fitting lid.
2. Screw the cap on tight!
3. Shake, shake, shake till everything is well combined.

For the Salad:

• 2 c. edamame, blanched, shocked in ice water, and drained
• 1 block smoked tofu
• 1 c. tamari almonds
• 8 c. spinach, washed and spun dry
• 1 scallion, minced (optional)
• one recipe of Soy-Ginger dressing (see above)

1. Place all of ingredients besides the dressing in a large salad bowl.
2. Pour the dressing over everything.
3. Toss and serve immediately.