Mango-Avocado-Kale Salad with Ginger-Sesame-Orange Dressing

vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free (potentially), refined sugar-free

Adapted from a recipe in the How Not to Die Cookbook

This is a delicious salad featuring a whole foods dressing. Who needs those high salt, high sugar, not that great store-bought dressings, when you can easily whip up something like this in a blender! The secret to good homemade dressings is adding something with a creamy mouthfeel (tahini) and something with a deep umami flavor (miso). I've recently started keeping these ingredients on hand to make delicious sauces and dressings. Miso is also a key ingredient in my soft gruyere.

Serves: 4 / Prep time: 15 min / Total time: 15 min

Ingredients:​​
For the dressing*:

• 1/2 orange, peeled
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar**
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced scallion or chives
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon white miso paste***
• 1 pitted date or 1 teaspoon maple syrup****
• pinch cayenne pepper

For the salad: ​

• 5 cups chopped baby kale, romaine, or any preferred salad greens
• 1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice*****
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch dice

Optional Accompaniments:

• cooked and cooled rice, wild rice, quinoa, or other favorite grain
• roasted chickpeas, nuts, and/or sesame seeds

Directions:

1. In a blender, combine all the dressing ingredients and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. 
2. In a large bowl, combine the salad greens, mango, and avocado. Pour on the dressing and toss gently to combine. 
3. Serve on top of a grain for a complete meal and top with roasted chickpeas, nuts, and/or sesame seeds for added crunch!

*A larger batch of dressing tends to blend up better, so feel free to double the batch and store the leftover dressing in the fridge for up to a week.
**Unseasoned rice vinegar is best, but if you only have the seasoned kind, you may want to leave out the date/maple syrup and slightly reduce the miso since it will already have salt and sugar in it.
***Any color miso will work, but the darker colors are stronger, so you may want to reduce the amount if using dark brown or red miso. Check out Soft Gruyere and Baked Potatoes with Broccoli, Creamy Cheddar Sauce, and Crispy Tofu Bites for other recipes using miso.
****Anything sweet will work here; bonus points for the date since it's a true whole food! But be sure to blend well.
*****Frozen chopped mango works too if you don't feel like doing all that work! Thaw for a few hours in the fridge.
​