Paleo, Gluten Free Japanese Salad

Recipe is free of gluten, nuts, dairy, eggs, shellfish, and soy

 

This gorgeous salad is as scrumptious as it is attractive looking.  It's large enough and nutritious enough that it could serve as a meal all on its own if you have a couple of servings worth.  

I confess, I can't take credit for it. It's from Pauli Halstead's new cookbook Primal Cuisine: Cooking for the Paleo Diet.   But I can share the recipe with you!  

I recently had the opportunity to review Primal Cuisine, and liked it so much I asked if I could offer my readers a copy (you can enter the giveaway below, after the recipe!).  Pauli and her crew said yes.  Then I asked if I could share a recipe to show you a bit of what the book holds.  Again, they obliged.

I chose this recipe because I love Japanese food and I loved that this recipe was very simple and adaptable for various allergies (you can view some of my substitution ideas after the recipe).  

Hubby liked the salad enough that he ate it all, then poured the leftover sauce on some shredded carrots and ate that too!

Ingredients for Japanese Salad (serves 6):

The Japanese Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons Coconut Secret Raw Coconut Aminos, or to taste*

3 tablespoons sesame oil (you can use toasted sesame oil)**

2 to 3 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar  (I used 2, it was enough)

3 Tablespoons warm water (I used 4 instead, as I found it rather strong)

The Salad

3 ounces per person leftover cooked chicken, seafood, or rare steak, chopped (I used chicken)

1 tablespoon pickled ginger (I didn't have this so I added a small amount of grated ginger to the sauce) 

2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks (I shredded mine in a mandolin)**

1 small head radicchio, thinly sliced**

2 to 3 scallions, white and green part, sliced on the diagonal

2 sheets nori, cut into thin strips, optional

Garnish: 2 to 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

For the Japanese vinaigrette:  In a bowl large enough to hold the following salad ingredients, whisk together the coconut aminos, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and warm water. 

For the salad: Add the cooked meat or seafood, carrots, scallions, pickled ginger, and nori strips to the Japanese Vinaigrette.  Toss well.

To serve: Place the thinly sliced radicchio on thee plates.  Divide the dressed salad mixture onto each plate.  Garnish the salads with the toasted sesame seeds. 

My thoughts and subs: 

If you include everything listed here this is not a budget salad.  I splurged and got everything except the pickled ginger and it was fabulous, but there are some things you can do to make this a bit 

cheaper.  It will change the flavour of course, but you'll still the get the sense of it. 

*Coconut aminos replace white miso for those who cannot consume foods containing soy.  Coconut aminos are not cheap though.  If you can have soy (but not gluten) try Tamari or Bragg, they're gluten free alternatives to soy sauce.  If you can have soy and gluten, try soy sauce. 

Radicchio, while beautiful and tasty, is not the cheapest lettuce.  I bulked up my salad with a bit of cheaper mixed greens. 

** Sesame oil can be expensive.  Unfortunately it has a very distinctive taste so it's hard to sub out.  But if you have to, you can use olive oil or coconut oil.  Also, if you have Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS) and are allergic to sesame (as many people are) then try olive or coconut oil.  

** If you have Oral Allergy Syndrome and are allergic to carrots, you'll want to skip them here. 

** Finally, if you have OAS and you're allergic to lettuce you might want to try this with steamed kale, spinach or collard greens instead. 

In general, sesame oil, nori, ginger and Tamari and/or soy sauce are usually cheaper at Asian markets than regular markets, so you might want to check there for your ingredients.  

I hope you enjoy the salad as much as I did!

And don't forget to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of  Primal Cuisine so you can find more recipes like this one!

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This post was shared on the following great blog parties: Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Monday Mania on Pinterest, Natural Living Monday, Musings of a Housewife, Make Your Own Monday,  Fat Tuesday, Traditional Tuesdays, slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Allergy Free Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Wheat Free Wednesday,