Asian-ish Edamame Salad

I struggle a bit with the name of this salad. I adapted it from this recipe found here where its called Asian Edamame Salad. I've never eaten anything like it in all my living and travels on this side of the globe. So is it really Asian? It uses a lot of produce available in Asia. The flavors are very Asian, seeing how the dressing is predominately soy sauce. But all these things together in a salad at a restaurant? Haven't had it. That doesn't mean it isn't good though! So this is where the term Asian-fusion food comes in I suppose. Cold, fresh, summer-salad-concept meets ingredients-available-in-my-market-in-China. Its a win. I promise. (I can't say the same for the Asian-style chicken nugget recipe I tried to go with it!) If you need a great, cold salad side dish, this is it.  I could totally eat it on its own as a meal, but my kids and my husband might complain. But I'll push it on them when I can as its packed with nutritious vegetables (yeah for edamame being a super food!). I love things that are completely local, easy to throw together, and have nice, light, fresh flavors. The leftovers are still great--the soy causes them to loose a little of their crunch but the flavor is actually probably better the 2nd day! Hope you like this one, too!

Asian-ish Edamame Salad
500g (~1lb) shelled edamame 毛豆
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1-2 medium carrots, cut in matchsticks or shredded
1-2 cups shredded cabbage (I used 1/3 head regular, red or bok choy would work too)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup finely chopped green onion
1/4 cup toasted almond slices

Dressing
1/3 cup soy sauce (I used light low-sodium)
3 large cloves garlic, pressed
2 tsp oil
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp sugar

Cook edamame in salted water for about 4-5 minutes (here's a post on that). Test one for doneness--they should not be soft. Allow to cool.

Put all the chopped and prepped vegetables together in a large bowl. Chill until ready to serve. Whisk together the dressing in a smaller bowl. When ready to serve, toss together the dressing, almonds, and vegetables. Enjoy!

Notes:
I prepped all this at my kids' nap time and then just tossed together at dinner time. You could probably sub 1/2-1 tsp ground ginger for the fresh. I added about 2-3 tsp of olive oil to the dressing because it wasn't sticking very good to the salad. I thought the small bit of oil might help and I think it did the trick. This IS a liquid-y dressing. But it does good adding the flavor it needs to -- just keep tossing it before you spoon out a serving. The leftovers took on a lot of the flavor but the cabbage did get a little wilty. The original recipe used purple cabbage and orange bell pepper, which provided a lot of fun color, but I couldn't find either of those the day I made it.