Happy New Year! It's hard after the holidays not to want to take a break from all the indulgence and make sweeping resolutions. My diet resolutions this year are simply to eat more soups and salads. Sure, I'd love to eat healthy, exercise more and lose weight but I'm trying to be realistic.

When it comes to soup, there is no problem. I probably eat soup for dinner once a week. While I grew up eating salad every night, it's just not all that popular around my dinner table. I have a couple of ideas to shake things up. I am going to try to develop more interesting salad combinations and recipes. I am going to get creative with salad dressings and I am also going to try eating more salad for lunch.

This is a salad I served on New Year's Eve. It is very festive looking, don't you think? The salad is light and healthy, but has a good variety of flavors and textures. The Napa cabbage adds color and crunch, the pomegranate adds color but also sweetness, which is balanced by the saltiness of the miso dressing. The dressing uses white or shiro miso, which is less salty than other darker miso. I've added a few teaspoons of tahini which I always seem to have on hand for making hummus. I don't use it for anything else! Perhaps finding more uses for pantry staples should be another resolution...

Avocado Pomegranate Salad with Miso DressingServes 4-6

Ingredients

8 leaves Napa cabbage, shredded
8 cups mesclun or spring greens
1/2 cup pomegranate "seeds"
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

Dressing
3 Tablespoons rice bran oil
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons white miso
2 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons tahini
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Instructions

Whisk together the salad dressing ingredients and taste for seasoning.

Toss the cabbage and greens and dressing to lightly coat. Garnish each serving with pomegranate and avocado. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!