No-Cook Miso Microgreen Salad
This highly nutritious and tasty salad is perfect for times you’d like to feel good without expending much energy. There is no cooking involved, only a few ingredients to chop and a simple dressing to mix together. Colorful veggies and fermented soybean (miso paste) are sure to give your gut and mind a boost!
Another apt name for this recipe would be “mental health reset microgreen salad.”
About a month ago, I was at my favorite local market, shopping for a couple of my own recipe concepts as well as recipes from some favorite food bloggers (HIGHLY recommend Vegan Richa for delicious Indian cuisine and Pick Up Limes for wholesome recipes and nutrition advice).
While in the produce section (the very first section of the store, to my ongoing delight), I spotted a new local product — 2.5 ounces of MICROGREENS. Let me just tell you — I have my reservations about the structure of capitalism (I studied economics, after all), but I THRIVE on consumerism. And taking a new food product home? Well, to me, that feels like Christmas.
As a small business myself, I have a whole new appreciation for local products, especially when it is food-related. Microgreens are a food I greatly enjoy, but I don’t see them featured in many recipes. Maybe I’m just not looking in the right places. But as a recipe developer, I enjoy the rewarding treat of incorporating new foods into my diet whenever I want, in whatever way I want.
I was already hungry while at the store (pro tip: do NOT shop while hungry), and the recipes I had planned would take some time to execute. On the spot, looking at the microgreens, I decided I would throw together a quick salad for myself.
I had called my therapist earlier that day, off-session, as I was really struggling. I live alone and had been working from home almost 2 months at that point, seeing 1 person bi-weekly, and my mental stability was becoming increasingly volatile. As an independent person indescribably elevated by the food blog, social media presence, and intellectual/creative capacity I have invested in this year (2020-21), I have fared relatively well during this pandemic. But since I’m a person just like all of us, I struggle with mental health, especially in a period of chronic isolation.
I was at the store that day following a week of scraping by, relying heavily on processed foods like boxed vegan mac (NO shame), and barely avoiding spending on takeout (I have now avoided buying a restaurant meal for over 100 days!).
These easy meals are a staple for me when I’m not doing well, but unfortunately, they do not provide my body with the nutrients needed to lift myself into a better mental state. This spontaneous salad came to my rescue that day, and it is now a mental health staple for me.
The days when we have the worst mental health are the days we need proper nutrition the most. Since 95% of our serotonin is produced in our guts, and the gut acts as a second (arguably, a first) brain with over 100 million neurons, the foods we put into our bodies have incredible power over not just how we feel mentally, but how our brains actually function.
The challenge with these poor mental health days, though, is that executive functioning is often diminished, and the energy and focus needed to execute a nutrient dense meal is absent. On these days, low effort yet highly nutritious meals are essential.
That is where this salad comes in. Not only does it require no cooking, but it is whole food, plant based, and it contains a fermented food — miso. Fermented foods are especially friendly to the gut, and getting this type of nutrition with minimal effort is a no-brainer on low and high mental health days alike.
Be sure that you use shiitake, and NOT crimini or white mushrooms in this salad. Shiitake mushrooms are more nutritious, but most importantly, they are not cancer-causing in their raw form like portabella and white mushrooms. Apparently the correlation between these specific mushrooms and cancer is rather hush-hush, as they are the most consumed mushroom in the market and powerful forces are at play to suppress the information (who ever thought mushrooms would be so scandalous?). I learned this information AFTER snacking on 8 ounces of raw baby bella mushrooms (no cancer so far, but I will no longer be taking my chances).
I am passionate about this recipe because I have struggled extensively with mental health challenges both through heavy traumatic experiences and the day-to-day ups and downs that come with being alive. This meal has truly helped me feel better on a few occasions now, and it has provided a lift that no vegan mac ever could. If you try this recipe, I hope you experience similar feelings of healing in your gut and mind, no matter what state you’re in.
No-Cook Miso Microgreen Salad
Equipment
- Salad bowl
Ingredients
For salad
- 2.5 oz microgreens or sprouts of choice
- 2-3 green onions chopped
- 6 medium shiitake mushrooms* sliced
- 6 grape tomatoes sliced lengthwise
- ½ avocado sliced
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
For the dressing
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp miso paste
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Prepare veggies and place in large salad bowl.
- Mix dressing ingredients until well combined, add to salad bowl, and toss to combine. Serve and enjoy!