Green salad with edamame beans and fresh ginger and lime dressing

Recipe and photograph – Dr Joan Ransley

This recipe can be made in advance and packed up in a lunch box for eating out of the home. Edamame beans are a vibrant green and can be mixed with other green fruit and vegetables to create a stunning looking, delicious salad. Some wholegrains and a few nuts and seeds make this a filling and nutritious lunch.

Edamame beans are whole, immature soybeans, sometimes referred to as vegetable-type soybeans. They are bright green and are stocked frozen by most supermarkets. They are a rich source of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin K and folate, and dietary fibre.

Method

To make the dressing: place the vinegar, lime juice, olive oil, soy sauce and grated ginger and sugar into a jar with a lid and shake well. Finally add the chopped coriander and give the jar another quick shake and set aside.

To assemble the salad

Place the cooked wholegrains in a large bowl and scatter over the defrosted edamame beans, followed by the thinly sliced mangetout and chopped almonds.

Core and slice the apple and place in a small bowl with the lemon juice. Remove the apple pieces from the lemon juice and add to the salad. Finally add the baby spinach leaves.

Spoon over the dressing and mix well. Serve the salad either on its own or with smoked salmon.

Alternative serving suggestion

• Cooked and cooled green beans could be substituted for frozen edamame beans.
• Smoked mackerel, trout or cooked chicken could be substituted for hot smoked salmon.
• A simple French dressing could be used instead of the ginger and lime dressing.