THAI CRUNCH SALAD + CITRUS PEANUT DRESSING
This colorful Thai inspired salad features cabbage, cucumbers, red bell pepper, carrots, and peanuts all dressed in a creamy citrus peanut dressing that’ll have you tipping the bowl!
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2 - 3 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: chop, mix
- Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 1/2 cups English cucumbers, thinly sliced and halved or quartered
- 1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, julienned
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 small head Napa cabbage (about 2 – 3 cups), sliced
- 1/4 head of red cabbage, sliced
- handful peanuts or cashews, for garnish
- handful cilantro, for garnish (optional)
- red pepper flakes, for garnish (optional)
Citrus Peanut Dressing
- 3 tablespoons orange juice, lime juice or lemon juice, + more as needed
- 3 tablespoons raw or natural peanut butter (almond or cashew butter is great too)
- 1 tablespoon tamari, coconut aminos or soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- pinch of red pepper flakes or 1/2 teaspoon sriracha hot sauce (optional)
Instructions
Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the peanut citrus dressing, set aside allowing the flavors to come together. Then before adding the dressing to the salad, taste for flavor adding anything extra you might like. For a thinner dressing add 1 or 2 tablespoons citrus juice or water. To make it thicker add a tad bit more nut butter.
Assemble: Prepare your salad ingredients. Check your dressing for flavor. In a large bowl the napa and red cabbage, scallions, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots and peanuts or cashews, pour the dressing over top the salad and toss well to coat.
Serve in individual bowls, top with peanuts or cashews, and red pepper flakes.
Makes 3 – 4 smaller salads, or 2 generous salads
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator
Notes
Dressing: Use the orange juice for a less tangy dressing. I used orange and lime for this recipe and have also used just lemon alone as well. Both variations are great! You can also lessen the amount of juice replacing it with water. Add in some citrus zest of choice if desired. And if you’re a vinegar lover, try adding a splash or two of rice wine or apple cider vinegar!
Add more protein: Try tossing in a cup of cooked quinoa after mixing for a more nutritionally balanced profile. Also a cup of edamame would boost the protein even more.
Allergies: Those with nut allergies can opt to use sunflower butter or tahini for the dressing. For the salad, pepitas, sunflower seeds and hemp hearts would be great here!
Recommended tools: For grating garlic and ginger, this Microplane is great. And for uniformly cutting the cucumber and carrots, I love Mandoline.