Edamame Salad springs eternal from the freezer.
The eternal question: What to serve with a stir-fry? Well, it's the eternal question in my house, where stir-fry happens a lot. This time, I was invited to a friend's, and wanted to help out by bringing a side dish. But I also didn't want to brave a trip to the supermarket on the weekend—it's a real nightmare here, where parking is at a premium at the best of times; impossible on the weekend. And my local grocery store is small and doesn't always have what I need.
But I remembered I had two bags of frozen edamame in my fridge. I wasn't sure if one bag would be enough; it's hard to judge how many beans are left after the pods are discarded. But two turned out to give me roughly a pound (or 500g) of bright green beans.
Other than removing the pods, the dish was a snap to prepare—ready in less than an hour.
If you're looking to increase the soy in your diet (edamame is soybeans—you knew that, right?) or if you simply want a dish to go with a friend's stir-fry, try Edamame Salad. It's also, I must say, rather spring-like, with its bright green beans.
Which can lead to all sorts of corny captions.
Edamame Salad
2 pounds (1 kg) frozen edamame, in the pods
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (canola or rapeseed)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon Chinese-style chili sauce
4 scallions (green onions), chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro (coriander leaves), chopped
2 tablespoons basil, chopped
1 tablespoon chives, chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
Cook edamame pods in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain and run cold water over the pods. Remove the edamame beans from the pods; discard the pods.
Meanwhile, mix together the remaining ingredients, except for the toasted almond slivers, in a medium bowl. Place the edamame in the bowl; toss to distribute the mixture.
Before serving, add the almonds. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until time to serve, then toss the ingredients again and sprinkle with the almonds.