Tomato, Butternut Pumpkin and Ginger Salad with Tamarind and Sesame Dressing

Have you ever had something in a restaurant and the memory of that dish has lingered in your mind for months after you tasted it? 
This post is about such a dish - Tomato, pumpkin and ginger salad with a tamarind and sesame dressing.
The love affair with said dish started at Longrain - a restaurant that serves very easy-to-fall-in-love-with modern Thai/Asian cuisine, full of flavour and full of colour and always inspiring. But I am not here to do a review, you should go and try it for yourself (if you are in Sydney or Melbourne), you won't be disappointed. 

What I am going to do is explain that I just had to make this salad for myself at home. It also pays to tell you that I ate this at Longrain over two months ago and even though the colour and the flavour of this salad has stayed with me, I did take a little creative licence when it came to assembling my own version. 

And now just a quick word on those curious leaves in the pretty blue vase above: this is my Vietnamese Mint that I have been cultivating in a pot in my backyard (and not a small bunch of gum leaves). Most Vietnamese Mint has beautiful purple stems and a blaze of purple in the centre of each leaf. I am not sure why the purple up and left my plant, but I can only assume that the copious amount of rain that we have experienced has something to do with it. Whatever. The flavour is still there and, really, this is nothing compared to what our rural friends in the Riverina area have experienced recently. It puts things into perspective really; I for one won't be complaining about my garden here in Sydney copping too much rain when some those farmers have had their livelihoods washed away in the deluge. 


When you read the list of ingredients below it is easy to tell that this is not a shy salad. The dressing alone is enough to send your taste-buds into overdrive. Drape it over some barely roasted butternut pumpkin/squash, tomatoes (in various colours and shapes) as well as all manner of other insanely feel-good ingredients. What more can I say - just make it and you will see why I have carried this in my mind for over two months. I hope I have convinced you to make this - your taste-buds will thank you! 

Tomato, Butternut Pumpkin and Ginger Salad with Tamarind and Sesame Dressing
Inspired and re-created by a salad of the same name from Longrain, Surry Hills
For the salad
400g of mixed small tomatoes - I used a Medley Mix, halve some, and leave some whole
1/2 butternut pumpkin/squash, cut into small cubes
2 thumb size pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
3 spring onions/scallions, ends only, sliced finely on the diagonal
1 tbs black sesame seeds - or white sesame seeds if you can't get black
Approx 2 tbs Vietnamese mint - roughly chopped
Approx 1 handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped.
Olive oil 
Sea salt 
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a tray with baking paper. Toss the pumpkin in the oil and sea salt to coat and spread evenly on the tray. Roast for about 40 minutes or until your pumpkin is just starting to brown. Once done, set aside to cool.
Assemble the rest of your ingredients in a bowl and start on the dressing.


For the dressing
Adapted from this recipe
1 1/2 tbs of tamarind paste
Approx 1 tbs of fresh coriander roots and stems, finely chopped
1 tbs fresh lime juice
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
Whisk all ingredients in a small bowl until combined. 


Lightly toss the dressing through the salad ingredients and serve.