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Vibrant Asian Salad with Peanut Dressing
June 6th, 2018 by Audrey Weidman
I get a lot of pleasure from cooking vibrant food. Creating a meal in the kitchen is a stress reducer for me – it’s even meditative. I also love preparing food with my family and friends. It is a great way to socialize, co-create, and then enjoy the meal. I had the opportunity to do just that with my friend Cherin Rykaczewski making an awesome Vibrant Asian Salad.
Cherin is a fellow foodie and when she posted one of her lovely salads, I had to have the recipe. We agreed that she would come over and we would create something wonderful together. You see, one of the things I’ve incorporated into my menu is to have a spectacular salad EVERY day! (Ok – maybe not spectacular everyday, but tasty and interesting for sure).
I’m not talking iceberg lettuce with a cherry tomato, slice of cucumber and ranch dressing. That’s pretty boring… and not very good for you.
I’m talking a lip-smacking, ‘I’m can’t wait to eat this salad’ salad. Here’s the low-down and the how-to on one of the salads we made: Vibrant Asian salad with Peanut Dressing. Mmmmm mmmm good.
Cherin does quite a lot of manual chopping – she’s into the meditative aspect of the chopping too. But if you want the prep to go faster, consider using a food processor or mandoline slicer in your prep. Or just buy prepared sliced peppers, shredded carrots and/or cabbage at the grocery store.
What I love about this salad is that almost the entire color wheel is represented in the dish. And eating the rainbow is really good for you. Each color of veggie offers different nutrients. So you get a fusion of tastes, textures and colors that tastes as good as it looks. We eat with our eyes and this salad delivers the wow factor on all fronts.
Ingredients And Directions
Vibrant Asian Salad
- Thinly Sliced Purple Cabbage
- Julienned Snow Peas
- Julienned or Chopped Carrots
- Sliced Red and/or Orange, Yellow Bell Peppers
- Sliced Cucumber
- Sliced Almonds
- Chopped Green Onions
- Fresh Mandarin Orange Slices or Fresh Cubed or Sliced Mangos
- Cilantro
- Organic Mixed Greens
Protein Add Ons:
- Sliced Cooked Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast (we pan seared this but you can use grilled chicken breast as well)
- Grilled, Pan Seared or Roasted Shrimp
Place a layer of organic mixed greens on your plates. Arrange the colorful veggies and fruit over the greens first: the cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, mangos/oranges. Then place the shrimp or chicken on the salad. Continue layering the green veggies: cucumber, snow peas, cilantro and almonds on top.
Peanut Dressing:
- 1/2 C Toasted Sesame Oil
- 1/4 C Rice Vinegar
- 1/4 c Coconut Sugar or Raw Honey
- 2 Tbsp Peanut, Sunflower, or Almond butter
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Chili flakes – use more/less to desired spiciness
- 1/4 tsp Ginger Powder or more to taste
- Sea Salt to taste
- 2 Tbsp orange juice (optional)
Place all the ingredients in a tall cup and using an immersion blender (this is the one I use), blend the dressing. Drizzle dressing over the salad and enjoy. Any remaining dressing can be stored in a small mason jar. Dressing will keep for a week … if it lasts that long.
Let me know if you make this salad and what you think — Maybe you even want to share a picture of your “color wheel” salad.
