Thanks for joining me for this week’s edition of What’s On the Menu Wednesday.  Many, many thanks as well for the get well wishes so many of you sent my way.  I’m happy to report that after four weeks of coughing, hacking and feeling generally miserable, I think I’m on the mend.

 

edamame
The recipe for this edamame salad was one I found on the back of a package of Melissa’s fully-cooked edamame (soybeans).  Over the years, I have adapted it but it still has wide variations each time that it is made.  It’s one of those light, filling dishes that I like to keep on hand.  It’s great in the summer with grilled chicken and fish.  I like it all year round as a light lunch. 
 
I will give you the original recipe because it is not available on their web site.  My suggestions for adaptations will be in parenthesis.

 
Edamame with Yellow and White Hominy Salad
1 10-ounce package Melissa’s  Edamame
   Soybeans Shelled (You can use any brand 
   that is readily available to you.)
1 15-ounce can yellow hominy, drained **
   (and rinsed)
1 15-ounce can white hominy, drained
   (and rinsed)
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 small (red) onion, diced*
1 fresh jalapeno, finely diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped*
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil (EVOO or grapeseed
   oil – I use less oil.)
1/2 teaspoon Don Enrique Pico de Gallo
    seasoning (either Emeril’s Bayou Blast
    or
ground chipotle chile pepper)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons chipotle sauce (omit)

Place edamame, hominy, bell pepper, onion, jalapeno and cilantro in a bowl.  Toss to combine.  In a separate bowl combine vinegar, lime juice, oil, chile powder, cumin and chipotle sauce.  Whisk to combine.  Pour over salad.  Chill at least 4 hours.

 

Serves 4 –6.

Notes:  * I often use purchased pico de gallo in place of the onions and cilantro.  Plus, it has tomatoes which I always add in anyway.
 
**I seldom use two cans of hominy.  Sometimes, I don’t use it at all.  It just depends on what I have on hand.

 
Other ingredients that I often add:  cherry tomatoes cut in half, black beans (always drain and rinse), frozen yellow corn kernels that have been rinsed with warm water and drained, garbanzo beans…just play around with it to suit your taste.

I don’t think that you necessarily have to chill it for four hours, but the flavor does improve as it sits.  Be sure to stir it well each time before you dish it up. It will keep for days.  I never have any to be thrown away:)

The soybean is nature’s most complete protein food, providing essential amino acids that the human body must have to survive but cannot synthesize.

Delicious and good for you!  What’s not to love?

Linked to:  Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent   (repost on Feb. 5, 2011)