The Blender Girl’s Asian Arugula Salad with Ginger Apple Pear Butter

We were Craving something fresh and clean when we flipped through Tess Master's book, The Blender Girl and happily came across this recipe for a gingery arugula salad.

Tess is one of our go-to's for super easy, nutrient-dense recipes and this one is as delicious as all the rest. As you may have guessed, everything Tess concocts is made in a blender -- we've been whipping up her wheat, dairy, and refined sugar-free juices, smoothies and other treats for years! This zingy salad recipe embodies what this blender-friendly Aussie is all about. Make this salad for foodies of all palate 'types' and watch them dive on in! Here's The Blender Girl herself with a few notes...

This little gem was a happy accident. After my mate, Denise, and I made a batch of ginger-apple-pear butter, our friend Mika sampled the leftover liquid and thought it would make an amazing Japanese-style salad dressing. Excited by her inspiration, we all starting riffing and threw together this salad with fresh ingredients on hand. The results were magic. Some things are just meant to be. Enjoy!

Asian Arugula Salad

Serves 6 as a starter, 4 as a main

INGREDIENTS:

Dressing:
1/2 cup of the liquid strained from ginger-apple-pear butter (recipe below)
2 Tbsp wheat-free tamari or soy sauce
1/4 cup cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil

Salad:
10 cups loosely packed arugula
1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced
3 small radishes, cut into extremely thin half-moons
6 oz firm tofu, organic
1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and cut into wedges
1/3 cup sliced or slivered blanched almonds
natural salt

DIRECTIONS:

To make the dressing, put the ginger-apple-pear liquid, tamari, and olive oil into your blender and blast on high for 10 to 20 seconds, until well combined. Set aside.

To make the salad, throw the arugula leaves into a large salad bowl. Add the cucumber and radishes, and crumble the tofu over the top, scattered like bits of feta.

Add the dressing, toss, and then top with the avocado and almonds.

Season with salt and serve immediately, before the arugula wilts.

Ginger Apple Pear Butter

Makes 1 cup sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup pitted dates, chopped
2 ripe pears, cored and chopped
2 green apples, cored and chopped
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced

DIRECTIONS:

Soak the dates in 2 1/2 cups of water for 2 hours.

Place the soaked dates and their liquid into your blender and add the pears, apples, lime juice, and ginger. Blast on high for 2 to 3 minutes, until well pureed.

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, stirring to remove as much liquid from the pulp as possible; reserve the liquid and store in an airtight glass container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Scoop the fruit butter out of the strainer and use immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Reprinted with permission from The Blender Girl by Tess Masters, copyright (c) 2014. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc. Photography (c) 2014 by Anson Smart. Publisher retains all copyrights and the right to require immediate removal of this excerpt for copyright or other business reasons.

This recipe originally ran in 2014, but we loved it so much we brought it back!

The post The Blender Girl’s Asian Arugula Salad with Ginger Apple Pear Butter appeared first on The Chalkboard.

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