Seaweed, Ginger and Carrot Salad

Mise en place or putting in place, as in set up, is not something I do regularly. In my home kitchen, I loosely organize the ingredients all over the counter, pantry, and fridge and do not always have all the items ready in one place. You don’t want to see the kitchen while I’m cooking! This is definitely an area I can improve to become more effective. Or perhaps, there are some recipes which are more conducive to the process of “mise en place,” like this seaweed salad.

There is nothing complicated in making the salad other than assembling the vegetables, seeds and nuts, and ingredients for the dressing. The primary vegetables are seaweeds, ginger, carrots, cucumber and mango. Peeled and shredded, with the help of a mandoline, then they are ready to go. (I zested the ginger using a Microplane rasp grater, instead of cutting it into strips.) Only the carrots need to be parboiled for about two minutes before joining the assembly line.

I put all the vegetables on one plate. Took an “mise en place” picture, first one of this kind! I always seem to be in a such a hurry to get to the finish line. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not involved in a “Chopped” competition.

I love fruits in salads. The combination of mango, ginger, carrots and cucumber is a brilliant one. The finished dish is visually appealing and refreshing with a nod to Japanese cuisine. I wish I can come up with this delicious combination. Again, I rely on Yotam Ottolenghi. He never disappoints.

I have more than three ingredients to satisfy the July Mystery Madness challenge at IHCC: seaweed, sesame seeds, parsley, mango and mint. This is an easy group of ingredients to work with. Salad was my first thought and it works. It is always fun to find out what dishes other IHCC home cooks put together using the mystery ingredients.

I can see wrapping all the vegetables in a sheet of nori

Used walnuts and walnut oil instead of peanuts