Tart London: how to make an Asian-inspired superfood salad

Jemima Jones and Lucy Carr-Ellison combine Asian flavours in a superfood salad full of colour and crunch

This is the kind of salad you’d get from some hip restaurant in downtown LA or New York — light and refreshing, full of crunch and colour and packed with flavour. The term ‘superfood’ is overused, but all the same we like to call this creation our ‘killer Asian-inspired superfood salad’.

Here we’ve used tofu, avocado, broccoli, seeds and nuts, sugar snaps and brown rice, but don’t feel limited to those. There are no ‘set’ rules as to what goes in it, so if you feel like experimenting, go for it. You can also swap the rice for noodles, and the tofu for prawns.

We’re always happy when dishes arrive with extra dipping sauces and punchy dressings, and we love coming up with our own recipes. We’re particularly proud of this one, which was inspired by a favourite at the Angelica Kitchen in New York’s East Village, which blew our minds when we lived stateside in our early 20s with its nourishing, tasty takeaway lunch boxes. It’s punchy, sweet and salty while the ginger and carrot give it a fresh, summery zing. Even better, it’s super easy to throw together and it’s versatile, too — you can make extra dressing and use it as a sauce for noodle dishes or even grilled meat and fish.

Killer Asian-inspired superfood salad

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

Tofu marinade

340g tofu

4 tbsp sesame oil

4 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 inches of ginger, grated

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 chilli, finely chopped

2 limes, juice and zest

1 lemongrass, finely diced

1 tbsp maple syrup

Salad

1 broccoli, cut into florets

1 avocado, cut into cubes

1 handful sugar snaps, cut lengthways

½ cucumber, peeled, sliced lengthways, deseeded and cut into crescents

Shiitake mushrooms, roughly sliced

Radishes, cut into quarters

Small bunch coriander and mint leaves

2 lime leaves, finely stripped

5 spring onions, finely chopped

2 tbsp peanuts, toasted and roughly chopped

2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Carrot dressing

2 carrots

1 lemongrass

2 inches of ginger

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 shallot

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp miso paste

2 tbsp water

Rice

250g brown rice

Method

Make sure you get most of the water out of the tofu by pressing it in kitchen towel, then cut into 2cm cubes and marinate for at least one hour.

Cook the brown rice according to the packet instructions, leave to cool and drizzle in olive oil.

Make the dressing by blitzing all the ingredients in a Magimix or blender.

Blanch the broccoli so it’s still crunchy and then mix together with the other salad ingredients.

Divide the rice between your bowls, top with the mixed salad and marinated tofu. Sprinkle the seeds over the top and add coriander. Drizzle the remaining tofu marinade over the top.

Dress and serve.

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