Summer Salad Challenge

To some it may sound crazy, but the truth is that with all the new convenience options around at Whole Foods lately, it's totally possible to be a junk food vegan.  Being vegan used to mean you literally didn't have the option to eat enough of anything to get you fat (unless you were on an all pasta diet).  Today there's vegan pizza on my street, nut cheeses in all the best sandwiches at my favorite vegan lunch place, and a seemingly endless array of vegan cupcakes, all in just St. Louis!  I try to steer away from being a junk food vegan, but when weekends get more steeped in Coronas & pool time than running, sometimes I fail.  So I'm starting a "summer salad challenge."  My goal is to eat one meal a day as a salad.  It can literally be any meal, even breakfast.  Sometimes it won't be perfect - if I end up eating a salad WITH a meal, I figure it still counts.  But every study shows that the more salad you eat, the less you eat other bad-for-you stuff.  Also - this doesn't have to be a lettuce based salad...but no mayo based salads would be ideal.

I started today with a salad based off of a recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook, which is surprisingly awesome and VERY vegan friendly.  It's one of my favorites, and the dressing makes a lot, so it's great for a veggie dip for the rest of the week.

Tomato, Avocado, and Miso Salad

6-8 cups butter lettuce
1 large avocado, or 2 small, cubed
2 large tomato, chopped or you could also use a cup of halved cherry/grape tomatoes
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 diced cucumber

Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 mild onion, peeled and roughly diced (I used 1/2 vidalia)

1 small clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp white miso

2 tbsp toasted sesame oil

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Blend all ingredients but the veg oil in your blender until smooth, then slowly stream in vegetable oil to emulsify dressing.  It will look creamy when finished blending.

Toss with all salad ingredients to combine, and top with sesame seeds.