CONTRIBUTED BY KELLY GILLOTTI
Our garden is overflowing with lettuce, so I brought salad to a recent barbecue. People suspiciously eyed the flowers on top, but this salad was a hit! Expressions of doubt were replaced with delight, thanks to the edible nasturtium (ナスタチウム) flower.
Nasturtium imparts a spicy flavor to a dish, similar to watercress. It best complements a sweet lettuce, and contrasts nicely with the bright citrus notes of yuzu (ゆず).Let’s get real though, nasturtiums are here to look pretty; they make salad sexy.
Yuzu is a fruit local to Japan, and sometimes difficult to find outside of Asia. The flavor to me is like combining a lemon with a mandarin.
I find it better as a sour ingredient, rather than eaten whole. The zest is especially flavorful.
For the salad:
- 4 chopped shiso leaves (シソ)
- 2 heads of lettuce
- 1 chopped myoga (みょうが)
- 1 carrot julienned (use a mandolin if you have it)
- ½ cup of nasturtium flowers
Yuzu Sesame Dressing
- Juice and peel from 2 yuzu fruits
- ½ tsp fresh ginger
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame seed
- 1 tsp mirin (みりん)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mayo
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp water
- Pinch of salt
- Pepper to taste
Throw all of the yuzu dressing ingredients into a food processor to blend. Toss with the first four salad ingredients and top with nasturtium.
