It’s the new year! I still can’t believe we entered a new decade. Kevin has been recovering from a mild case of post-holiday blues. I’ve been busy setting new professional and personal goals while menu planning for Lunar New Year. Lunar New Year is in just a few short weeks, which means it is almost time for the mad dash to clean the home in preparation for the holiday. Growing up, mom was super particular about making sure the home was as clean as possible in the days leading up to new year. Her definition of clean meant each and every surface of each and every furniture had to be free from dust. Dad was usually in charge of the decorations. He would pick out the most eye catching red and gold décor to plaster all over the home. The brighter the colors, the more auspicious it seems in their eyes. My brothers would look forward to collecting the red envelopes filled with cash. They always seemed more excited in anticipation of Lunar New Year than any other holidays throughout the year. I would always look forward to the tables filled with the widest selection of foods. It always amazes me how bountiful the meals are during the days leading up to and after the holiday. Lunar New Year meant longevity noodles, prosperous fish, fortune cupcakes, tons of lucky fruit and candy, and endless assortment of cooked meats. It’s also a day about togetherness and joining of families. On the eve before new year, I always loved gathering around the table with family to enjoy a bountiful meal before New Year’s Day. We always spent countless hours chatting and laughing into the late evening. Since moving to the Midwest, I haven’t been able to celebrate Lunar New Year with my family as much as I would like to. First, the lunar calendar doesn’t quite align with the western calendar, which means Lunar New Year can fall on any day of the week. Second, it is not yet a holiday observed across the entire United States. This makes it difficult for me to take off time to celebrate Lunar New Year with family. In the more recent years, Kevin and I have been celebrating the holiday with a variety of auspicious foods. Last year, we celebrated with a menu featuring sweet and sour pork, chicken and cashew lettuce wraps, spicy boiled fish, almond cookies, and orange milkshakes. In preparation for Lunar New Year this year, I’ve been testing a few recipes featuring some of my favorite foods. This year, I’ve included a twist on sweet and sour chicken by making chicken skewers with a sweet and sour dip. To round out the meal, I also whipped up an Asian vegetable salad with sesame ginger dressing, and a brown sugar bubble tea (inspired by the brown sugar bubble tea I had at Tiger Sugar over the holidays). My Asian vegetable salad with sesame ginger dressing is one of my favorite (and super easy) dishes to whip together when I want a light, crunchy salad packed with flavor. The base of the salad is a blend of red cabbage, julienned carrots, cucumbers sliced into thin strips, and roughly chopped cilantro. The dressing comes together rather quickly. I just stir together kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, grated ginger, sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, and tamari. The salad is generously tossed with the sesame ginger dressing. We enjoyed lunch and discussed the upcoming holiday festivities. This year, we get to celebrate Lunar New Year with Kevin’s family.
For the Asian vegetable salad:
· 1 red cabbage, core removed and thinly sliced
· 3 carrots, skins peeled and julienned
· 1 large cucumber, sliced into thin strips
· 15-20 sprigs fresh cilantro, stems removed and roughly chopped
For the sesame ginger dressing:
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 1-inch knob of fresh ginger, skin peeled and grated
· 1 tablespoon sesame oil
· 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
· ½ tablespoon honey
· 1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce)
Directions:
1) In a large bowl, combine the thinly sliced red cabbage, julienned carrots, thin strips of cucumber, and cilantro leaves. Set aside.
2) To make the sesame ginger dressing, combine the kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, freshly grated ginger, sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, and tamari.
3) Pour the sesame ginger dressing all over the vegetables. Toss to coat the vegetables in the sesame ginger dressing. Serve immediately or chill the salad in the refrigerator.
Takeaways: Another ingredient I love to add to my Asian vegetable salad to give it another dimension of flavor is diced pineapple. The diced pineapple adds a sweetness and freshness and brings the salad over the top. Depending on my mood, I may even toss in some thinly sliced scallions to further enhance the flavors of the salad. The salad is great on its own, but can also be added to sandwiches and sliders for added crunchiness (and increased servings of vegetables).