Avocado, tomato & wakame salad with sesame dressing
Avocado, tomato & wakame salad with sesame dressing
I love the contrast of texture and colour in this salad. The rich sesame dressing has a wonderful depth of flavour and the wakame, often used in Japanese salads, is packed with nutrition.
If you are going to be cooking Japanese food a lot then I recommend buying a suribachi (Japanese pestle and mortar) which has a ridged surface that’s perfect for grinding sesame seeds.
Summer | Serves 4
1 tablespoon instant wakame flakes (I use Clearspring)
1 avocado
10 cherry tomatoes
For the dressing:
½ tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
½ teaspoon untoasted sesame oil or olive oil
¼ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
½ tablespoon soft light brown sugar
Soak the wakame in lukewarm water for 2-3 minutes until expanded and softened and then drain.
Grind the sesame seeds in a suribachi or regular pestle and mortar. If you only have untoasted, you can toast them yourself in a dry pan until they pop.
In a small bowl combine the rest of the dressing ingredients. Add the ground toasted sesame seeds.
Cut the avocado into quarters and peel and then slice each quarter widthways into about 5 pieces. Halve the cherry tomatoes.
In each individual bowl arrange a small mound of wakame, 3 slices of avocado and 5 cherry tomato halves. Just before serving, whisk the dressing and pour a little over each salad.
