I decided to up the protein in my diet with a super easy and delicious okara salad. Not only do you get protein from the okara but also from the beans in the salad. My mom makes fresh soy milk every few days so she needed to be creative with her okara and told me to try this recipe. I instantly liked it because it’s something different and it satisfies my big appetite. The other great thing is that it tastes even better the next day after the okara has a chance to absorbe the flavors from the onion.
Ingredients (4 servings)
2 cups or approx. 215 grams of toasted okara
1/2 cup yellow onion diced large
1/4 cup frozen corn thawed
1/4 cup frozen peas thawed
1/2 cup kidney beans
1/2 cup garbanzo beans
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. mayonnaise (light or regular)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dashi powder or kombu powder (optional)
Directions
1) Toast the okara in a pan for about 5 minutes until the okara softens. This step is not absolutely necessary but it helps the okara take on a velvety texture. If you’re pressed for time, skip this step.
2) Dice the onion (about half of a medium onion) into large pieces and stir fry until they start to brown. Don’t cook them until they are completely soft because they add a nice crunch to the salad if they are slightly crunchy.
3) Add the okara, onions, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, corn, peas, mayo, salt and dashi powder and mix well. (You can substitute the dashi powder with kombu dashi for flavor or leave it out completely. The onions will add lots of flavor.)
4) Serve onto lettuce cups or large pieces of romaine (see photo below) and wrap into a taco or eat as part of a meal.
Toast the okara in a pan and stir constantly with a spoon.
Stir fry the onions until they start to brown.
Add the okara, onions, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, corn, peas and mayo into a mixing bowl.
Mix well until all the ingredients are incorporated.
Serve on lettuce and eat it as is or wrap in the lettuce.
umamitopia.com: Authentic Japanese, CA fusion, French & Italian influenced recepies.
Naomi Kuwabara was born and raised in California but spent many summers in Japan growing up. She has spent time living in Hokkaido and Osaka, both meccas for Japanese cuisine. Her passion is cooking and sharing her experiences cooking Japanese food with others. Her blog Umamitopia is about her experiences cooking Japanese food. Her greatest inspirations are from her mother and grandmother. Her cooking adventures can be found at http://umamitopia.com.
