Not long ago, I blogged about a new favorite salad of mine, the Romaine-Kale Caesar Salad. I love it so much I make it about once a week! A few weeks ago, I came home from the store and realized I had done what I often do, brought home everything I need for a recipe except one important ingredient. Those are the times when I come up with my greatest inspirations, so I started looking around for what I could create.
My parents travel a lot, and they often bring me something culinary from their trips. I had a package of papaya dressing mix on the counter. As I thought about it, I realized I had some other Hawaiian-inspired ingredients sitting around: frozen mango, rice vinegar, and macadamia nut oil. So I took my basic recipe and started messing around.
Here is what I came up with! I gave this salad the name that I did because"da kine" is Pidgin slang for"whatever", and Kamehameha, not Julius Caesar, is the royalty most recognized by the Islanders as their important historical figure.
So next time you lain has a kanak attack, do what dis haole do. She make 'em a killahz kau kau like dis en dey say"Mahalo, dat was 'ono!" Sometimes dey even ask fo noddah plate. (I got a little distracted by the Hawaiian Pidgin dictionary while I was writing this and tried it on for size!)
- 1 package papaya seed dressing mix
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons macadamia oil
- sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 4-5 ounces romaine lettuce, thinly sliced, washed and dried
- 4-5 onces. dark green kale, washed, dried, and thinly sliced
-1/2 package sesame seaweed snack*
-1 bag frozen mango chunks, thawed
Preparation
Blend the rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and Dijon in a food processor and pulse together a few times. Add the macadamia oil oil one tablespoon at a time, pulsing for a few seconds after each tablespoon is added. Season the dressing with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Put dressing in the fridge and chill until ready to use, or if you want to make the salad right away, chill it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so.
Thinly slice romaine lettuce and kale into 1/2 inch strips. Wash, then spin dry or dry with paper towels.
Place the kale strips in a salad bowl, and pour in salad dressing. Massage dressing into kale with your hands until the leaves change color. Add romaine and crumbled nori, and toss to coat with dressing. Add the mango chunks and toss again. Serve right away.
*Seaweed, also known as nori, is a vegan source of omega-3's. Actually, the reason fish have omega-3's themselves, is because small fish feed on seaweed and it is passed up the food chain. It is a popular snack in Asia and the Pacific. Look for it in the Japanese section of your grocery store, or click on the link I provided above to order it online.
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