Maple Lime Slaw

We have been in a salad rut at home. You know, that point where you have been circulating the same three or four salads week in and week out for months? Lucky for me, this rut coincided with a short trip to Toronto where I not only took a break form cooking every night but also had some wonderful food which sparked my creativity.

When eating out I always order a side salad--it's any easy way to get your veggies in and balance some of the more indulgent choices that happen when we travel. On our last night in the city we had a delicious meal at Woods Restaurant. Naturally, I ordered the green salad and was super impressed. The ingredients were simple  but the dressing was AMAZING...citrusy, tangy and with a hint of sweetness. It reminded me of a dressing I made fairly regularly a few years ago, so naturally when I got home I had to try and dig up the recipe. The dressing is a recipe from our grocery delivery service Washington's Green Grocer (if you live in the DC/VA/MD area I highly recommend them), but I changed up some of the salad ingredients based on what I had in my fridge. 

Ingredients

Dressing 

• 1/4 cup olive oil 
• 1/3 cup lime juice (I love limes so I increased this to 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 3/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder or 2 teaspoons fresh grated onion (I used the fresh onion)
• black pepper to taste

Salad

• 1/2 head finely chopped green cabbage
• 1 medium watermelon radish sliced into match sticks (you could use 3-4 regular radishes if you can't find watermelon radishes)
• 3-4 medium celery stalks finely sliced
• 1 avocado diced
• 1/2 box of spicy microgreens (optional)
• 1-2 green onion finely sliced (green part only)
• 2 tablespoons hemp seeds (optional) 

Directions 

For the dressing:
Put everything in a glass jar and give it a good shake. You can keep any leftovers in the fridge for a few days. 

For the salad:
Pour 2-3 tablespoons of dressing at the bottom of your salad bowl (add more if you like heavier dressed salads), add the cabbage, radish, celery, avocado and microgreens. Toss well and make sure the dressing is evenly distributed. Let the salad sit for at least 15-20 min. to allow the flavors to develop. Right before you serve garnish with the green onions and hemps seeds. 

This salad goes really well with grilled chicken or shrimp. 

Let me know if you try it! Do you have any "go to" dressings and salads?