Edamame Salad with Roasted Cabbage, Red Pepper, and Noodles

This salad started as an "oh shit" moment when I realized I forgot to (1) buy green beans and (2) make the rice one night while cooking for myself and the offspring. I didn't catch on to this until the pork loin I was roasting was about 15 minutes from its egress from the oven. A mad flurry ensued as I combed the fridge and cabinets for something acceptable to fill the role of "vegetable" in our dinner. The red cabbage was something I needed to use, and I had a container full of edamame leftover from my last venture out to a sushi restaurant. Honestly, this salad came together because I thought the contrast of the light green and the dark purple was pretty. Sometimes I'm shallow like that.

Recipe Notes:

I like to vary the types of oil and vinegar I use. It adds an extra depth to the flavor, I think. If you don't happen to have multiple options, however, this dressing will taste quite good with one or the other type oil and/or vinegar.

The edamame can be prepared from fresh or frozen. Pick whichever tastes the best from your favorite grocer. The same goes for the roasted red pepper. You can roast your own from fresh if they are in season, or you can cheat (which I am a big fan of doing!) and use jarred peppers.

Soba noodles are also a good choice for this salad.

Edamame Salad with Roasted Cabbage and Red Pepper

Ingredients:

1 red cabbage, cored and chiopped into 1-2 inch pieces

1 tsp light olive oil

salt and pepper

16oz shelled edamame

1 roasted red bell pepper

4oz lo mein noodles

Dressing:

2 tbs olive oil (light or extra virgin)

1 tbs sesame oil

1 tbs stone ground mustard

2 tbs grated ginger

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

2 tbs rice vinegar

juice of 1/4 lemon

pinch cayenne (more if you like it hot!)

salt and pepper

about a tbs each worth of fresh chopped thyme, parsley, and chives

2 tbs coarsely chopped toasted almonds

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread cabbage on baking sheet in a thin layer. Very lightly drizzle with 1 tsp light olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stirring often, roast cabbage in oven about 15 minutes until dehydrated, but not brown.

Boil or steam edamame to desired doneness. Slice red pepper into thin strips.

Wisk together dressing ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare lo mein noodles according to package directions; leave noodles in the water until it is time to toss them with the rest of the ingrediants.

Toss cabbage, edamame, and red pepper with dressing, herbs, and almonds. Drain the noodles and immediately toss with the salad.

Serve warm or chilled.