Kale, Purple Cauliflower, String Beans, Almonds and Sesame Seeds

Sue Chan’s Fall Veggies with Miso Dressing

  • Sue Chan’s Fall Veggies with Miso Dressing
  • Sue Chan’s Fall Veggies with Miso Dressing
  • Sue Chan’s Fall Veggies with Miso Dressing
  • Sue Chan’s Fall Veggies with Miso Dressing

NOTES

This is Sue’s go-to dressing and it can be paired with any vegetable combo you like. Always go for the heirloom and interesting colors of veggies if available. The vegetables can be raw or blanched, but blanched is preferred. You can also add a protein like baked tofu or grilled chicken, cut into small ½ inches pieces. This dressing would It would also be great for dipping crudité.

INSTRUCTIONS

Remove ends from green and wax beans and discard. Cut beans into 1″ pieces. Tear cauliflower into 1″ pieces, discarded most of the stem.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare a large ice bath. Submerge cauliflower, green beans and wax beans in water for 30 seconds and then remove with slotted spoon, transferring to an ice bath.

Wash and dry kale, remove tough stems and slice as thinly as possible. Add to mixing bowl.

Remove veggies from ice bath, and pat dry with a dishtowel. Add to mixing bowl, along with your cooked farro/quinoa. Cut radishes into paper thin slices by hand or on a mandoline. Cut carrots into matchsticks, similar in thickness to your green beans, and slice green onions as thinly as possible on a diagonal. Add all the cut vegetables to your mixing bowl.

In a jar or small dish, combine ingredients for the dressing and shake or whisk to combine.

Toss the vegetables in your bowl with your dressing and add toasted sesame seeds, toasted almonds, and cilantro as a garnish on top and serve.

RECIPE

DIFFICULTY

EASY

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
SERVES

4

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
PREP TIME

20 MINS

Dressing

  • 2 
    tbs 
    white miso
  • 2 
    tbs  
    rice wine vinegar
  • 1 
    tbs 
    lime juice
  • 2 
    tbs 
    dark sesame oil
  • 2 
    tbs 
    grapeseed oil
  • 3 
    tbs 
    2% fat Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 
    small 
    thai bird chili, deseeded + minced
  • 1 
    whole 
    lime, zested
  • 1/2 
    tbs 
    grated ginger root
  • 1 
    clove 
    galric, finely grated
  •  
     
    salt + pepper to taste

Salad

  • 1 
    cup 
    purple cauliflower
  • 1/2 
    cup 
    green beans
  • 1/2 
    cup  
    yellow wax beans
  • 3/4 
    cup 
    sliced carrots
  • 1 
    cup 
    cooked farro or quinoa
  • 1 
    cup 
    red russian kale
  • 3-5 
     
    red radishes, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 
    cup 
    green onions sliced thin on diagonal
  • 1/2 
    cup 
    slivered almonds, toasted
  • 1/2 
    cup 
    cilantro leaves, chopped
  • 2 
    tbs 
    sesame seeds, toasted

INSTRUCTIONS

Remove ends from green and wax beans and discard. Cut beans into 1″ pieces. Tear cauliflower into 1″ pieces, discarded most of the stem.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare a large ice bath. Submerge cauliflower, green beans and wax beans in water for 30 seconds and then remove with slotted spoon, transferring to an ice bath.

Wash and dry kale, remove tough stems and slice as thinly as possible. Add to mixing bowl.

Remove veggies from ice bath, and pat dry with a dishtowel. Add to mixing bowl, along with your cooked farro/quinoa. Cut radishes into paper thin slices by hand or on a mandoline. Cut carrots into matchsticks, similar in thickness to your green beans, and slice green onions as thinly as possible on a diagonal. Add all the cut vegetables to your mixing bowl.

In a jar or small dish, combine ingredients for the dressing and shake or whisk to combine.

Toss the vegetables in your bowl with your dressing and add toasted sesame seeds, toasted almonds, and cilantro as a garnish on top and serve.

When I came to Sue Chan’s Williamsburg apartment on a Sunday afternoon, I immediately forgot how difficult our salad date had been to schedule. There I found Sue in her happy place – her post farmer’s market haul, where vegetables would be spread out on her counter and inventoried, flowers cut, arranged, and scattered around her sunny apartment. Sue spent more time lovingly organizing her heirloom cauliflower, carrots and dahlias than she did preparing the salad (to be fair, Sue could make this salad with her eyes closed).

Sue is the brand director for the Momofuku empire, meaning she oversees PR, creates events, and masterminds how a restaurant can function as so much more than a brick and mortar dinner destination. And in her free time (as if she has any), Sue is one of the founders of Toklas Society, a community building non-profit that hosts business driven events to benefit women getting started in the culinary world. Sue started this group with friends EunJean Song and Alex Pemoulie, as they saw themselves climbing the ranks at work, but lacking formal resources for women in their positions. They wanted create a space where they could meet like-minded culinary professionals, to cross-pollinate and generate new ideas. What better way to initiate such an organization, than to invoke the name of Alice B. Toklas, feminist icon, cookbook author, art lover and partner to Gertrude Stein?

I recently attended a Toklas Society mixer at the newly opened and much acclaimed Mimi Cheng’s Dumpling Shop in the East Village.  There, Sue had succeeded in creating an environment where people could ask questions, exchange contact info and “network,” in the least icky sense of the word. I saw familiar faces and new ones, chatted with women who were just finding their way in to the world of food, and those who were well-seasoned and already deep into a wide array of creative projects and pursuits.

New York can feel like an impossible nut to crack, until you find those people who know how to make you feel at home.

* Toklas’ website is under construction. To find out about upcoming events, follow their Instagram and Twitter, @TOKLASSOCIETY, and join their mailing list by emailing hello(at)toklassociety.org