Lauren’s Kitchen: Ana Jones’ California Miso Avocado Salad

It is definitely coming. We’ve moved our clocks forward, there is sunshine in the forecast and we are 11 days from the official start of SPRING! Let’s celebrate and bring on the salads, chock full of the season’s beautiful produce. This gorgeous Avocado Miso salad is just the right place to start. Bursting with broccoli, seasonal greens, and buttery ripe avocados it can be a meal all on its own or a delightful start to a cooked dish that follows.

This recipe comes from Ana Jones’book, A Modern Way to Eat that was recently recommended by a client. It would be a great resource for those building up their plant-based cookbook library. The amounts listed below will make 2 meal sized servings, so adjust according to your needs. I have noted substitutions I made when preparing for my own family.

Eating a vegetable salad on its own or prior to your cooked meal is an easy way to increase your intake of raw, high-alkaline foods and improve digestion. Raw vegetables digest more quickly than a cooked meal and should always be eaten first so they don’t sit with slower to digest foods where you lose their alkaline benefit.

For the dressing:
1 tablespoon brown rice miso paste (white miso is milder and will give a more family friendly flavor)
1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar (can be replaced with lemon juice or organic seasoned vinegar)
1 tablespoon soy sauce (tamari and coconut aminos are the gluten free options)
juice of 1/2 a lime
4 tablespoons milk (dairy-free coconut milk/creamer or cashew milk are easy substitutions to produce a creamy texture)
sea salt

For salad:

5 ounces (150 g) broccoli, stems chopped, florets broken into little heads
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 handfuls of seasonal salad leaves, washed and dried
1 ripe avocado, pitted and halved
1 (15-ounce/400 g) can white beans (or equivalent), drained ( I had chick peas on hand which were delicious)

The complete instructions are here on Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks Blog.