Bean Sprout Salad with Ginger, Scallions and Cucumber

Ever since making Gram Flour (Chick Pea) Pancakes last week, I've been thinking about the various ways vegans get protein in their diet. Pancakes almost always signify carbohydrates yet when they're made with a legume they provide protein - such a great twist!

Along those lines, bean sprouts look like vegetables, are usually found in the produce section of a grocery store and yet they too are protein, and highly nutritious and easy to digest at that. Recalling a recipe that a friend shared with me more than 20 years ago (which I promise to make soon) I realized that sprouts area great ingredient to build a light meal around.
In this instance I wanted a light summer meal with lots of fresh flavors that would be great to eat on a hot day.  Since I am a huge lover of ginger, I decided to quickly fry slivers of fresh ginger for the crispiness they would add to the salad and the zing of fresh ginger; it was fabulous!

Bean Sprout Salad with Ginger, Scallions and Cucumber

1/2 lb mung bean sprouts
1/2 Persian/English/hothouse cucumber, cut in half and cut in half moon slices
1 3" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced very thinly
2 scallions, sliced thin
1 small carrot, grated on large holes
1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 fresh red jalapeno or other hot pepper (optional)

Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil to hot frying pan and quickly fry ginger pieces until crisp on the edges; remove from pan and drain, reserve any leftover sesame oil in pan. In bowl, combine sprouts, cucumber, scallions, carrot, cilantro and jalapeno if using and mix well. Add lime juice, remaining sesame oil from pan and additional 1/2 tablespoon, soy sauce, fried ginger, and toasted sesame seeds. Garnish with sesame seeds and fried ginger.

Hugs!

Recipes currently inspiring me:

Fried Okra with Corn Pancakes at Bitten/Diners Journal
Tofu Burgers at 101 Cookbooks
Zucchini Breakfast Casserole at Simply Recipes