Cool Stir Fry Salad

Cool salad / Cold salad, I’ll take either one, I’m just getting over the hot food thang right now.  We are not necessarily ready for popsicles for dinner (only the finest for my brood, huh?) although temps here in Middle Tennessee have already come close to 90 several times, but cool is working for me.  Plus, coordinating hot food over the space -time continuum can be difficult.

I bet nobody has ever said that before.  At any rate, when recently faced with a potluck that required a 30 minute drive and a 1.5 hour activity prior to eating, I thought I’d contribute a cool stir fry.  Why not?  I can be cool when I try.

This approach also gave me the opportunity to empty my vegetable bin of little bits of this and that.  Feel free to substitute the little bits of this and that you have to use up for the bits I mention here.  Substitution is the mother of creation, or necessity, or something like that.  Clearly my space time continuum is still a bit confused today, but if you do some subbing you get to say, ‘Voila!’  There it is, your own personal twist on a stir fry salad.  That IS cool!

Cool Stir Fry Salad

2. 5 cups dry rice, cooked to package directions, or your usual way! (I like brown basmati)
1/4 head cabbage, shredded
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
2-3 cloves garlic
Beet greens and stems from 3 large beets
3 carrots, sliced into coins
2 cups broccoli florets
3 – 5 Tbsp Bragg’s liquid amino acids (or soy sauce) – I used 4
.5 – 1.5 Tbsp sesame oil  – I used 1
1 cup roasted almonds (or raw)

Prepare rice according to package directions
When done, set aside to cool.  For added flavor cook rice in broth, bouillon or a mix of broth and water

Place cabbage in a large bowl and add rice vinegar and 1 tsp sesame oil.
Stir and leave to sit.

Almonds can be roasted in a 375 oven for 10 minutes laid out flat if you want to roast them.

Chop and saute garlic,  ginger, beet stems and greens:  Start with garlic and saute for a few minutes, add ginger for another minute then the chopped stems for about 3 or 4 minutes and finally the greens to wilt.
Set aside to cool.

Chop the rest of the veggies and cook or leave raw as you prefer.  I just barely cooked my broccoli florets, but not necessary.

A fabulous trio of flavors for cold salads.

Mix everything but the Bragg’s and extra sesame oil in the large bowl with the cabbage and stir.

Add the Bragg’s (or soy sauce) a bit at a time, stir and taste.  Extra vinegar can be added at this point as well if you like

Serve at room temperature or chilled – we’ve enjoyed it either way

Do you have hot dishes that you’ve converted to cool salads?