Peanut Dressing Salad or Crudites

[mific]

Serves 4

This is a versatile Thai-type salad dressing, good for a salad or crudites. It can be keto-friendly if sweetener's used. If you're not bothered with the low carb option, using 1 Tbsp honey instead of some of the sugar is good.

Ingredients:

For the Peanut Dressing:
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (good quality, e.g. just made from peanuts with no added sugar)
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar is fine)
2 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil
2 tablespoons GF soy sauce (low salt - add a bit less salt to the dressing if it's not)
3 tablespoons sugar or sweetener
1.5 tsp minced garlic
1.5 tsp minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
(optional) 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, finely chopped red chili, or hot chili sauce
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)
2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts

For the Salad:
4 cups chopped cabbage or shredded coleslaw mix or chopped iceberg lettuce. Or wedges of iceberg lettuce for crudites
1 cup finely sliced carrots OR carrot sticks for crudites
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced into bite-sized pieces OR sliced into strips for crudites
1 small cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced OR sliced into larger sticks for crudites.
1 cup of shelled and cooked then cooled edamame (put in a small bowl for crudites - I use frozen shelled edamame, cooked same as for frozen peas)
1 medium shallot/spring onion thinly sliced (not for crudites)
1/2 cup loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro (not for crudites)

Directions:

For the dressing:
combine all the ingredients in a blender or bowl and mix well until completely smooth - or put in a jar and shake until thoroughly mixed. I like to make this when I have the right amount of peanut butter left in a jar, but you do have to scrape all the PB off the inside of the jar to get it all mixed in. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For a mixed salad:
Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and toss. If serving right away, drizzle the peanut dressing over the top and toss again; otherwise, serve the dressing on the side so the salad doesn't get soggy. Add a sprinkle of chopped roasted peanuts and chopped fresh coriander as a final touch.

For crudites:
Prepare the sliced raw veggies and arrange them in heaps on 4 plates with a small individual bowl of edamame beans on each. Add a shallow bowl of peanut dressing, in which the veggies are dipped (the dressing's dripped onto the edamame). Other veggie options for crudites are blanched snow peas, broccoli or cauliflower (cover the veg in boiling water and leave to sit for ~5 min, drain and cool).

Comments

[lunabee34]

We make a really similar dressing but we add a splash of fish sauce. This is such a versatile dressing. I like it on noodles with stir fry.

+1

[jesse_the_k]

This is so delicious.

I've steamed/microwaves sturdy veg, like carrots, beets, or broccoli, and marinated them overnight. Makes for a tasty rice topping.