Avocado Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing

It's summer. And that means salads. Ran across this one looking at an old Goop newsletter. I love avocados and this carrot ginger dressing sounded fabulous. Of course, I am the only one in the house which will like this, but I am rarely deterred by that small issue! I did make the Ayi try a small plate of this salad. She said the dressing was good, but she can usually barely choke down any raw lettuce! Also, it was the first time she had eaten avocado. Her description was that it was "not sweet, not sour, buttery". I think that is a marvelous description of an avocado!

The major changes I made to the recipe were to decrease the miso and used olive oil (not EVO) instead of grapeseed. Plus I upped the amount of avocado (the original called for a single one). Note that different miso varieties will give a slightly different taste. The original called for white or sweet miso, but I had only some red that I had purchased in Tokyo. I reduced the amount accordingly as the red is really salty. This recipe has a real bite to it from the fresh ginger and the shallot. If you don’t want quite the same level of ginger taste, use one tablespoon instead of two. 

This recipe makes more than enough dressing for these four salads, but you can use the extra as a dip for vegetables. I even got Natalie to eat some with celery. Tonight I am going to try some on top of fried potatoes. I think the pairing of dressing with the starchiness and bit of crunch will be fantastic!

avocado salad with carrot-ginger dressing

 ingredients:

1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 medium shallot (about 1 tablespoon), roughly chopped
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh ginger
1 teaspoon red miso (use 2 tablespoons if using white or sweet miso)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil
1/4 cup olive oil (not extra-virgin) or neutral oil
2 tablespoons water

1 small/medium head of lettuce (I used Bibb) or mixed greens of your choice
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 avocados, quartered

preparation:

Blend the carrots, shallot and ginger in a blender or food processor until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides, then add the miso, vinegar and sesame oil. While the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and the water.

Divide the lettuce among four bowls, add some of the onion and a half of avocado. Drizzle with plenty of dressing (2-3 tablespoons each) and serve.

Serves 4, with dressing to spare