Wasabi-Ginger Coleslaw for One

This tangy side dish can serve double duty—put it on your sandwich! Yummmm!

½ teaspoon wasabi powder

½ teaspoon water

3 leaves of cabbage, chopped (I used napa, but any kind of cabbage will do)

1 slice of red onion, diced

Small handful of cilantro or parsley, chopped

½ carrot, grated

1 radish, grated or chopped

½-inch ginger, peeled and diced fine

1 TBLSP vegan mayonnaise

½ TBLSP of pickle juice or apple cider vinegar

Ground black pepper, to taste

1 TBLSP peanuts for decoration

1. In a small bowl, combine the wasabi powder with the water and set it aside to think about stuff. (Wasabi is a very philosophical vegetable.) Use more or less powder, depending on your tastes—just keep the ratio of water to powder the same.
2. Chop and put the cabbage, onion, cilantro, carrot, and radish into a small bowl.
3. The wasabi should be a nice paste, so add the ginger, mayonnaise, pickle juice, and black pepper to it. Stir it with enthusiasm to make a nice dressing. Make sure that the lumps are ginger—not wasabi—or you’re in for some trouble later.
4. Slosh the dressing over the cabbage mixture and stir it up. Maybe “toss” is a better word.
5. Top with peanuts and devour.

Shown here on a Buttermilk Biscuit (recipe coming soon), with roasted asparagus draped across, and some vegan mozzarella melted over the whole lovely thing under the broiler. It wasn't a tidy sandwich, but it sure was good! 

Japanese Carrot and Ginger Salad Dressing for One

I’ve never been much of a fan of iceberg lettuce unless you put it underneath that fabulous Japanese salad dressing. So when a neighbor gave me a big sack of already chopped salad that was mostly iceberg, I had to play with my food.

¼ large carrot, peeled and chopped

¼ cup vegan mayonnaise

½ TBLSP ground ginger

½ TBLSP soy sauce

½ TBLSP granulated sugar

1. In a food processor or blender, combine carrot, mayonnaise, ginger, soy sauce, and sugar.
2. Blend until it’s fairly smooth. I like a few chunks, but you do it how you like it.

Serve on a mostly iceberg lettuce salad with cabbage, carrot, and green onion for a restaurant-style salad.

This recipe could easily double or triple if you're not dining alone. 

I like this elegant dressing and salad with a roll of avocado sushi and some miso soup, but it would certainly be nice on a more elaborate salad and served as a main course. Like this:

Variations:

• Use ½ inch or so of freshly grated ginger instead of ground.
• Sprinkle in a few grains (and I mean just a few grains) of wasabi powder. It will mix with the sugar and be SUPER hot, so really: Go easy.