Plum & Cucumber Salad with Roasted Ginger Vinaigrette

This roasted ginger dressing is smoky, spicy, aromatic, funky, sweet, and complex, making for a very extraordinary, deliciously healthy spring and summer plum salad!

I’ve been a long-time avid fan of fresh ginger! I’ve enjoyed this healthy and delicious plant so many different ways. Chopped and added to sautés or dressings, steeped in boiling water for tea, grated to add some spice to desserts….but broiled whole with the skin on and put just like that into the food processor?!?! Honestly the thought has never even crossed my mind! Until I came across this salad on Bon Appetit that is. And it absolutely positively totally blew my mind away!

Why this Recipe Works

• No need to deal with peeling ginger. Use whole… peel and all!
• The smoky roasted ginger vinaigrette is balanced by the spicy bitter greens, the sweetness in the plums, the brightness of the cucumbers, and the richness of the crispy fried shallots.
• Eat no more boring salads! There’s a whole wide range of complex textures and flavors going on in here.
• This salad is everything a summer dish should be: flavorful, light, totally satisfying, and starring seasonal produce (plums!).
• If plums aren’t in season, they can easily be swapped for another fruit or even veggie!

This salad is a great way to eat your colors and it’s every bit as delicious as it is healthy!

The possibilities for this charred ginger paste are endless. Have ideas of a dish it would go wonderfully on?!?! I wanna know too! Please share your idea with me in the comments below.

What is Mizuna?

Mizuna, also called Japanese Mustard Green, has a mild peppery flavor, slightly similar to arugula but is less spicy. If you can’t find any just sub in arugula instead.

How to Make this Recipe

Whole ginger, peel and all, is put under the broiler for 45 min until it’s blackened all over (it ain't pretty folks). The blackened ginger and the rest of the dressing ingredients are pulsed in a food processor until a smooth paste forms. Crisp up the shallots. Wash greens and cilantro, slice up cucumbers and plums. Arrange all. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Please enjoy these step-by-step images showing how to assemble the salad.

Cooks Tips

• Scrub that ginger well since we’re eating the peal too!
• If you have a mandolin, use it for the cucumbers and shallots. If no, slice as thinly as possible with a knife.
• The Mizuna can easily be replaced by arugula (or another peppery green).
• Keep a close eye on those shallots and remove ‘em from the heat when they’re lightly golden! Remember they’ll continue cooking a bit after removal from the pan.
• Make extra shallots! And try ‘em sprinkled over other savory dishes.
• Dressing can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.
• Crispy shallots can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 months.
• When possible, buy local and organic produce.

Stoked on more summer salad recipes? I got YOU with LOTS! Check out my:

• Summer Salad Ideas
• Strawberry Burrata Panzanella with Basil and Little Gems
• Stone Fruit & Crispy Prosciutto Salad
• Stone Fruit Salad with Burrata 
• Caramelized Fig Salad with with Prosciutto and Blue Cheese

Have ya tried this recipe? I’d love to hear about it and see it too! Please leave a comment below and take a pic and tag it on Instagram with #chefdanielagerson. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more colorfully delicious food and all sorts of awesome adventures!

Let’s get our broiled ginger game on friends and lets make waves in the kitchen!

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Plum & Cucumber Salad with Roasted Ginger Vinaigrette

This roasted ginger dressing is smoky, spicy, aromatic, funky, sweet, and complex, making for a very extraordinary, deliciously healthy spring and summer plum salad!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Asian Fusion, Californian

Servings: 4

Author: Daniela Gerson

Ingredients

For the Salad

• 4 plums pitted and cut into 1” wedges sliced (can sub another stone fruit)
• 7 oz Mizuna can sub with arugula or another peppery green
• 3 shallots thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp canola oil to crisp up the shallots
• 1 English cucumber thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup cilantro loosely packed
• 1 tbsp black sesame seeds

For the Roasted Ginger Vinaigrette

• 8 ounces fresh ginger
• 1 Thai chili green or red
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 tbsp fish sauce omit it vegan
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Zest & Juice 1-2 limes to taste
• 1 tbsp water

Instructions

• Heat broiler. Broil ginger, skin and all, until blackened and beginning to scorch in places and a paring knife passes through the center with relative ease, 40–50 minutes.
• Slice ginger (yep the skin is still on) and pulse in a food processor with… ginger, chili, garlic, fish sauce, sugar, oil, and 2 Tbsp. water in a food processor, adding additional water by tablespoonful’s if needed, until a smooth paste forms.
• Thinly slice shallots. Combine shallots and oil in a saucepan over high heat and cook, stirring constantly, as shallots fry. When shallots are a light golden brown, transfer to a paper towel lined plate and season with salt. Shallots will continue cooking a bit after you remove them from the pan so don’t let them get to dark before doing so. Allow to cool to room temperature, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 months.
• Arrange Mizuna (or arugula) in a large salad bowl or tray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss with the dressing (to taste). I like to first toss the greens and then add the sliced cucumbers, plums and cilantro tossing again gently with your hands.
• Top salad with crispy shallots and black sesame seeds over the salad and enjoy!

Notes

• Scrub that ginger well since we’re eating the peal too!
• If you have a mandolin, use it for the cucumbers and shallots. If no, slice as thinly as possible with a knife.
• The Mizuna can easily be replaced by arugula (or another peppery green).
• Keep a close eye on those shallots and remove ‘em from the heat when they’re lightly golden! Remember they’ll continue cooking a bit after removal from the pan.
• Make extra shallots! And try ‘em sprinkled over other savory dishes.
• Dressing can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.
• Crispy shallots can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 months.
• When possible, buy local and organic produce.