Wagashi Green Salad

Wagashi is a type of cheese made in Ghana. The great thing about wagashi is it takes on flavor so easily and so well. It is mostly sold fried around Accra.

This is a green salad so whatever greens you have on deck will be perfect. It doesn’t necessarily need to be everything I use in here. You can even use one type of green. I recently came into a lot of greens; this almost sounds like a great uncle who was never married and hated my parents and the entire family left me his veggie garden when he died to the utter dismay of the entire family. Sadly it’s not as dramatic. I was gifted a box of greens by Okuani Farms when she came to install my herb garden over a month ago and I just got around to editing my pictures.

Recipe 3 servings

what you need

For the pan fried wagashi 

1 wagashi block, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices (whatever shape you prefer).

salt, to taste

pinch of black pepper 

veggies

small bunch arugula (about 1 1/2 cups)

small bunch lettuce (2 to 3 cups)

2 small cucumber, diced or sliced

small bunch fresh basil leafs

small bunch parsley (1/3 cup)

small bunch chard

small bunch fresh mint (1/3 cup)

1/4 cup garden peas (I used the frozen kind)

1 small onion, sliced

1/4 cup almonds or any nuts, toasted

Because this is more of a suggestion than a recipe, use whatever greens you have. You can even use one type of green. Omit the nuts if you’re allergic or don’t like them. Replace parsley with another herb you love. You can even replace all the herbs with more greens. What must stay the same is the vinaigrette, it ties it all together.

Vinaigrette/dressing

1/3 cup orange juice

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 tablespoon mustard 

freshly ground black pepper

1 clove of garlic, grated

sea salt

Directions

Toss the sliced wagashi, black pepper and salt together. To make the pan fried wagashi, place a skillet over medium heat and add just enough oil to coat the pan. Allow the oil to heat up. Fry the wagashi until golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan and set aside for later.

To make the dressing, combine all the ing

Toss and assemble the vinaigrette, place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. You can also cover the bowl with its lid and shake it to combine.Taste and adjust salt. Place in the fridge till ready to serve.

To make the salad, arrange all the greens open a ig plate. Place the seared wagashi on top of the greens and add a generous serving of the vinaigrette.