Asian Chopped Salad with Sweet Sesame Vinaigrette

Crunchy and bright, Asian Chopped Salad is packed with colorful vegetables and dressed with a delicious sweet sesame vinaigrette. Edamame gives this salad enough protein to make it a hearty vegetarian lunch or side salad for your next Asian-inspired meal. 

What You’ll Love About Asian Chopped Salad

One word - texture. This chopped salad has so much texture. Between coleslaw mix, crispy wontons, and peanuts, every bite has tons of crunch. This is a great salad to serve to a crowd and everything can be prepared ahead of time - just wait to add the wontons, peanuts, and dressing until right before serving. 

This salad is:

• Fresh
• Colorful
• Healthy
• Gluten-Free-Friendly (see tips below)

 

Ingredients

• Coleslaw Mix - Bagged coleslaw mix makes this easy and gives the salad crunch. Any type will work. Feel free to shred your own green cabbage or purple cabbage.
• Baby Spinach - Roughly chop the baby spinach so that everything in the salad is about the same size. Finely shredded kale makes a great substitute.
• Shelled Edamame - Look for pre-shelled edamame in the freezer section.
• Shredded Carrots - Buy them pre-shredded to save time or grate the carrots using a box grater or food processor.
• Green Onions - Fresh herbs give this salad added flavor. Fresh cilantro makes a good substitute.
• Roasted Peanuts and Crispy Wontons - Add these right at the end for the ultimate crunchy salad.
• White or Black Sesame Seeds - These are optional but add color and texture to the finished salad.
• Sweet Sesame Vinaigrette - A balance of sweet and savory flavor in the sesame, soy, and lime dressing brings everything together. Peanut dressing (either homemade or store-bought) would be a great substitute.

How to Make Asian Chopped Salad

1. Whisk together the vinaigrette using cooking oil, soy sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, honey, toasted sesame oil, and fresh ginger.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine coleslaw mix, spinach, edamame, and carrots.
3. Just before serving, add peanuts, wontons, and dressing to the salad.
4. Toss to combine.
5. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

Shortcuts 

This recipe uses several shortcuts to minimize the amount of chopping / prep needed:

• Coleslaw Mix - buy bagged coleslaw mix to give the salad crunch 
• Baby Spinach - buy pre-washed bagged baby spinach (I like to roughly chop it first, but you can skip that step to save time)
• Shelled Edamame - be sure to grab the kind that has been removed from the shells so you don’t need to do that yourself.
• Shredded Carrots - look for pre-shredded carrots in the produce section
• Roasted Peanuts - buy pre-roasted peanuts to add crunch and flavor

If you want to save even more time, look for a store-bought sweet sesame dressing to dress the salad. 

 

Possible Variations

• Make it a Meal - Add your favorite protein to make this a meal. Salmon, chicken, or tofu (like this one) are great here. 
• Make it Gluten-Free - Use Tamari instead of soy sauce and skip the crispy wontons (you’ll still get great crunch from the peanuts). 

More Fresh Salads

• Greek Goddess Salad
• Fresh Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad
• Balsamic Chicken Salad with Fresh Berries and Feta
• Apple, Brie and Pecan Salad
• Bacon, Corn and Avocado Salad
• Watermelon, Feta and Arugula Salad

Favorite Tools for Salads

• Global Chef’s Knife - You only really need one chef's knife to use for everything and this is my favorite. I've had it for 7+ years. It's incredibly lightweight. If you, like me, are under 5'4", the 6-inch is a perfect size (if you're taller, get the 8-inch).
• Half Sheet Pan - The perfect size pan for everything from roasting vegetables to baking cookies.
• Mixing Bowls