Asian Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

Dressing
• 1 TBSP toasted sesame oil
• 1 TBSP rice vinegar
• 1 TBSP tamari or soy sauce
• 1 TBSP mirin, sake, or rice wine
• 1 tsp sesame seed seasoning (I use Simply Asia)
Salad
• 1/2 hot house cucumber, sliced
• 1 celery rib, sliced
• Salt
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 TBSP diced green onion
• 1 TBSP hijiki seaweed, prepared (optional)*
• Sliced avocado

Instructions

Dressing
1. Mix all the ingredients in the bowl that you make the salad in. You can correct the seasoning, after you put the salad together. Several factors will come into play for the salt level: if you use tamari or soy sauce, if salt remains on the cucumber and celery, if the sesame seasoning has salt in it.
Salad
2. Place the cucumber and celery in a strainer, over a bowl. Sprinkle with salt, toss together, and let drain for about an hour. It will take out some of the moisture to keep the salad from getting watered down. Rinse, drain, and pat dry.
3. Place the cucumber, celery, cilantro, and hijiki in the bowl with the dressing. Toss well, let everything marinate for about 1/2 hour, tossing occasionally.
4. Serve on slices of avocado.
5. * Hijiki gives you an extra nutritional hit. It can be found wherever Japanese ingredients are sold (and definitely in large health food stores). To prepare it, soak it in water for 1/2 hour, then rinse well and drain, before you add it to the salad.