Lime, turmeric, ginger — got a couple of superfoods in this salad dressing, so it might actually be good for you.
And Zagat’s has named turmeric “this year’s trendiest superfood“.
The Accidental Locavore had some cilantro that wasn’t going to last much longer so I gave this recipe from Ottolenghi via bon appétit a shot.
Since everything ends up in a food processor, your chopping doesn’t need to be picture perfect.
Makes about ¾ cup.
Lime Turmeric Salad Dressing
- ¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1″ piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 garlic clove peeled and crushed
- 1 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
- ½ teaspoon lime zest (from about ½ lime)
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 jalapeno seeded and roughly chopped (more or less to taste)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Salt to taste
Put the turmeric, ginger, garlic, cilantro, lime zest and juice and some of the jalapeno into the food processor, pulse until finely chopped.
With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil. Taste and add salt and more jalapeno as needed. Serve over your favorite greens and enjoy!
My verdict:
Not love at first bite. Tried the lime turmeric salad dressing on some heirloom tomatoes and then on some local lettuce and was, frankly, underwhelmed.
The original recipe called for a whole jalapeno and this time I was playing it safe. I ended up using about a quarter of a pretty big and spicy one, so unless you’re a heat freak (and/or you know how hot your chile is) err on the cautious side with this.
I think turmeric is an acquired taste. Good in small doses when it blends with other spices. It gave the dressing a slightly soapy taste and adding more lime juice didn’t perk it up. The original recipe called for fresh turmeric (4″ piece peeled and chopped) and that might make a difference, but turmeric is hard to come by in my hood. Are you able to find it by you? And have you ever used it?
