Tempura with Miso Mayonnaise

Why stick to the old stand by vegetables when it comes to tempura? Potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, sure it's good don't get me wrong, but with all of the vegetables to chose from, it's time to broaden our horizons!

Spinach, purple cauliflower, shallots, asparagus and sweet potato fried until golden brown and served with a cooling miso mayonnaise dip.

Vegetable Tempura
1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed
1 small sweet potato, peeled, 1/2" discs
8 medium sized cauliflower florets
8 small shallot cloves, skin on
8-3" stalks of asparagus
salt and pepper
safflower oil for frying
batter-
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup ice cold water

Tightly squeeze out all of the moisture in the spinach and divide into 6 equal sized portions. Tightly pack into balls.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the sweet potato, cauliflower and shallot cloves. Boil for 8 minutes then drain and rinse with cold water until cool. Drain and pat off any excess moisture. Remove the skins from the shallots.
Sprinkle all of the vegetables with salt and pepper.
Fill a pot 2 inches high with oil and bring to 360 degrees.

Combine both flours and the baking soda and whisk to combine. Add the ice cold water and whisk just to combine. Do not over mix.
When the oil has reached temperature, dip some vegetables in the batter and into the oil. Fry until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt. Fry only small portions at a time so the temperature doesn't lower.

Miso Mayonnaise
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
2 tbl yellow miso paste
1 tbl nutritional yeast
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients and blend until smooth.