The Delightful Flavor of Fresh Ginger

Here are few delicious recipes to get you started using fresh ginger or add to your list of favorites. You can find it in the produce section of most grocery stores. It is a tan colored root. You can just break off a small piece of it, than peel the paper like skin off with a veggie peeler (like you would a potato or carrot) than grate it with a hand grater or a food chopper or a sharp knife. (I like to use a micro plane) Fresh Ginger is a lively addition to so many dishes and is so good for you! It also comes pre-minced in a tube which is very handy and keeps longer, so you can have it on hand. Fresh ginger tastes different than dried. It is sweeter and lighter, where as the dried is stronger and spicer.

Ginger Carrot Salad
This was a yummy salad that I whipped up when my husband's family was visiting. We had been hiking the property and enjoying the spring weather when I realized I had not given lunch a thought and I had 12 people who's hunger was quickly mounting. The measurments here are a guess, because I just tossed it together and gave it the "finger test". I suggest you do the same. :-) (I am cutting it in half for the blog, so I am going to say it will feed 6 people as a side dish.) We served this beside and inside turkey wraps (with sweet pea sprouts). It was quite good!

1lb bag Carrots, shredded (I used baby carrots)
1-2 Apples, chopped (I used pink lady, but gala, braeburn or fuji would be very similar.) No need to peel.
a hand full of Raisins
2-3 tsp fresh Ginger
about 2-3T Mayonaise
juice of 1 Lime
1-2 T raw Honey

Mix it all together and serve immediatly.

(This gets soupy as it sits so it is best assembled and eaten immediatly for maximum freshness. If you want to make it ahead, shred your carrots, chop apples and squeeze the lime over them and toss to keep the apple from oxydizing; than add the raisins. Mix the sauce seperatly and store it in a jar. Toss together right before serving.)
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Asian Ginger Dressing
Once you start making your own salad dressings...you'll start to wonder why you ever bought the bottled ones! You can save your store bought jars or just use a pint size Mason jar. (Thats what I do.) Home made dressings can also be made at a fraction of the cost with premium ingrediants and freshness; And the best part is that they tend to help you eat more glorious greens and raw vegies! This is one of my favorites and it always gets rave reviews.

This dressing has many flavors coming through it, with ginger only being one...you don't have to be a "ginger lover" to really appreciate this dressing. This is also tasty as a merinade for chicken, or used to dress cole slaw (instead of the typical white sauce).

3 cloves of Garlic, minced
2T minced fresh Gingerroot
1/2C Olive Oil
1/4C Dark Sesame Oil*
1/3C Rice Vinegar
1/4C Soy Sauce
3T raw Honey**
1/4C Water

Put all ingrediants in a pint jar and mix.

Shake before serving. Makes 20 servings - store in fridge.

*There are two kinds of sesame oil, dark and light. The dark is a very dark brown in color and this is used to flavor dishes. It is rich and delicious. Light sesame oil is a shade similar to other typical cooking oils and has a slight sesame flavor, but used more as a cooking oil (much like olive oil or grapeseed, etc) because the flavor is very subtle. There is a big difference in how it affects your recipe's flavor.
**If your honey is cold and thick, just add hot water in the recipe to disolve than mix. Let it cool.
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Maple Salmon with Pinapple Sauce
This is a recipe I got from Beth Holland (Bread for Life, cookbook series). My husband doesn't care for salmon, but he actually raves about this dish and asks for seconds. He said it beats any resturaunt he has ever tried.

(serves 4)

1 Salmon Side

Marinade:
1T Maple Syrup
1T Garlic Teriyaki Sauce (or regular teriyaki with 1 tsp fresh minced garlic)
1T Pineapple Juice
1tsp Fresh Ginger

Sauce:
1C Pinapple Chuncks
1tsp Honey
1/2-1tsp salt

• Mix marinade.



• Put Salmon in zip lock or dish and pour in marinade. Let sit in fridge for 1 to 24 hours.



• Prepare sauce by cooking all ingrediants in a small sauce pan on low for about 5 minutes. Serve cool or warm in a seperate ramican (side dish).



• Bake, broil or grill salmon about 3-4 minutes on each side.

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Miscellanious Ginger Tip: Use crystalized ginger to sweeten your brewed tea. It is soothing to the digestive tract and very pleasing to the pallet!