Butterhead lettuce edamame salad

My husband is typical no lettuce anywhere near his meal kind of person. He will love to see it he can get far away from a typical tossed-leaf salad. There are very few raw ones that will make it to his plate. He does enjoy the kachumer and the South Indian carrot salad. But come a shredded lettuce salad, Nah!! That doesn’t escape the mandatory spoonful that we usually keep up as a norm.  I did not expect him to even look at this salad when I made it. But he took his mandatory spoonful and silently ate the Saturday lunch. When he reached out to take a second helping, he said,
” This is really good!”
I thought I was dreaming. I asked him again what was good. He replied that it was the edamame salad. Oh wow, did we just win the lettuce war thanks to the edamame …yippee.

Let’s gather the ingredients

I know what made him like the salad, the Edamame. He loves Edamame to munch on.
Edamame:  is a legume (raw soybean ) rich in protein, minerals and vitamins.  Half a cup of shelled Edamame affords about 120 calories with 11 grams of protein. This combination is helpful for weight watchers and diabetics.  It is a useful snack that does not cause a glycemic spike. In large quantities, however, they are considered to interfere with thyroid functions. It is good to keep to a handful of pods for a snack. For this recipe I have used the frozen edamame that I have thawed.

Lettuce- water-rich crunch lettuce adds volume to the salad and keeps it light and easy. You can use butterhead, iceberg, romaine or radicchio. You could also swap this for a good mix of spinach and arugula. The lettuce keeps the salad low calorie too.

Fresh tomatoes –most of us look for the familiarity of tomatoes in any fresh salads, no doubt I do too. I have used ripe vine tomatoes in this recipe. You can use, Roma, cherry or grape tomato based on what you have.

Cucumbers- Cooling cucumbers are a big part of summer salads. Use any kind of cucumber you can easily get. I have used the basic lebanese cucumbers to add to this recipe. Peel if you prefer, I have left the skin on. 

Onions – the salad doesn’t really need much onion.  Somehow I like it and add a small bit to it. If you like it without the sharpness, soak them in a bit of water or used pickled onions to make the salad.

Seed- mix I love the seed crunch in my salads. Just a handful of pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds and flax seeds will make a lot of difference to the salad. Add any nuts or seeds you like to the salad to make it your own.

Keeping the dressing simple.

Often salads are avoided because of greasy heavy dressing. majorly,  I like light salads and nothing doused in a heavy,  creamy sauce. In this recipe, I have used a simple dressing with Vietnamese mint and spearmint. Both are hardy herbs that grow well in your backyard, just like mine. It is the same dressing I have used in kohlrabi cucumber salad too.

Let’s get the salad together

Getting salads ready is an easy process, but as a vegetarian, the main time-consuming aspect is the chopping and prepping of the ingredients. Here, chop the lettuce roughly, shell the edamame, and dice up the tomatoes and onions. Gather each ingredient in a bowl. Drizzle the vinaigrette and toss well. Top the salad with a handful of seed mix.
The details of the proportions and step-by-step guide on how to make the salad is in this recipe card below. If you like to try out some other salads we have to try kiwi salad or mulberry spinach salad.

Meal prep for this salad

The salad ingredients and dressing can be easily prepped and refrigerated for upto 3 days. However, don’t miss the ingredients till you are ready to eat as the lettuce goes limp. To save the lettuce from wilting, wash spin dry and keep the lettuce wrapped in a kitchen cloth. Place this in a bag and refrigerate. This keeps the lettuce fresh for a week.

Stay connected

Most salads are fairly easy to put together. It adds variety to your meals and keeps it low calories with loads of fibre. Enjoy this lettuce edamame salad and let us know what you enjoyed the most about it. Subscribe to our content as we attempt to try new recipes. Let us bring this content directly to you. Sign up on the never miss an update section on the right side of your laptop screen. Save this salad if you are moving house as a light lunch idea too.