A Green Resolution

Despite all of those news reports about finessing the holidays without doing too much dietary damage, most of us still fail. Big time. Among our trespasses: the handfuls of red and green M&Ms; pilfered from a co-worker’s candy bowl, the extra helping of mashed potatoes, and my personal December nemesis, the eggnog latte. What our bodies need right now is something green and healthful, but not health food, the death of many a well-intentioned resolution. These are salad days.

Among my favorites are those served at some of our local Japanese eateries. The house salad at Curry House, for example, is a simple assemblage of greens topped with tomato wedges, corn kernels and green and kidney beans and finished with a light, tangy dressing bright with vinegar and lemon. The tofu salad at Mishima is a lustier breed, with cubes of silken tofu atop chilled romaine, tomato, cucumber and seaweed and napped with a creamy mayonnaise-based sesame dressing. Another standout is the banbanji salad at Asahi Ramen, which consists of a small mountain of shredded cucumber and chicken tossed with a spicy soy dressing.

But the Japanese salad I crave more than any other is the Gyu-Kaku salad at the Japanese barbecue restaurant of the same name. Apparently I’m not alone. “More than 50% of our customers order it,” says Akitsugu Yamaguchi, director of operations. It’s delicious stuff--sure to convert even the most salad-averse. Miso (fermented soybean paste) and sesame oil impart an earthy, nutty richness, countered by a healthy dose of rice wine vinegar and lemon juice. But the ingredient that really distinguishes this dressing is karashi mustard, which packs some serious heat. Here it plays a backup role, delivering a barely perceptible buzz to the tongue.

I’ve tried the dressing on baby spinach. Very tasty. I’ve used it as a dipping sauce for crudites. Same story. Of course, it’s hard to beat how the restaurant uses it: over green leaf lettuce and cabbage, with hard-boiled eggs, red bell pepper and tomato for color and cucumber and daikon radish for crunch. Any which way, though, it’s resolution-friendly. As for the s’mores Gyu-Kaku offers for dessert? That’s another matter altogether.

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Gyu-Kaku Salad

Serves 4

DRESSING

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

2 tablespoons light miso paste

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon karashi mustard

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 cup canola oil

Salt and white pepper to taste

SALAD

1 (8-ounce) head green leaf lettuce, washed, dried and chopped

4 cups julienned cabbage (about 1/4 large head)

1 cup julienned daikon radish

8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

16 thin slices cucumber

4 hard-boiled eggs, each cut into 6 slices

1/2 cup julienned red bell pepper

2 tablespoons roasted white sesame seeds

For the dressing, blend all of the ingredients except the two oils until smooth. Drizzle in oils and blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes 1 cup dressing.

Divide the chopped lettuce among four large salad plates. Combine the cabbage and daikon and place equal amounts on top of the lettuce. Place 4 tomato halves, 4 cucumber slices and 6 egg slices around each plate. Place red bell pepper slices on top. Drizzle dressing over each salad and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve remaining dressing on the side.

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RESOURCE GUIDE

Look for karashi mustard at Japanese markets. The package may say Neri Wakarashi Japanese mustard paste.

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Leslee Komaiko last wrote for the magazine about sneaker artist Tim Garrett.