Thai Quinoa and Peanut Salad: a light and delicious summer recipe you’ll want to make all year long!
Y’all know by know that I’m not a ‘salad girl.’ I want hearty. I want savory. I want crunchy. I usually want a burger. But this salad is light enough to be a summer staple and filling enough to be the main meal. The star ingredients? Peanut butter and peanuts, 2 of my favorite things!
There’s no wrong way to build this dish– just choose your favorite grain for the base of the bowl — I used quinoa. It’s gluten-free, high in protein and one of the few plant foods that contain all nine essential amino acids. It’s also high in fiber, magnesium, iron– and it’ll keep you fuller longer than some boring old iceberg lettuce salad!
You’ll Also Love My Stuffed Bacon Bowls!
Quinoa will really take on whatever it is you mix with it, so I made a sauce to fold into the quinoa as well as a creamy peanut dressing. If the peanut dressing is too thick for your preference, just add a little water or coconut milk to thin it out. Don’t get freaked out (or grossed out) by the fish sauce ingredient. I promise you, even if you don’t like seafood, this sauce is the BOSS. The combination of fish sauce with lime juice, brown sugar, garlic and chiles is really phenomenal.
Topping the salad with all of these fresh ingredients really makes it come to life with texture and flavor! I love the combo of the shredded cabbage, matchstick carrots, edamame, jalapeno and red pepper, but feel free to add whatever you like.
When I’m serving this for dinner, sometimes I cut up a rotisserie chicken and throw it on top!
I’m very excited to be demo’ing this recipe at the Southern Peanut Growers Conference this week in Panama City, Florida. Stay tuned for a luscious peanut inspired dessert recipe coming to Parker’s Plate on Thursday!
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people
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- 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 cup shredded or matchstick carrots
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1/4 cup scallions
- 1/2 cup peanuts honey roasted is my favorite
- 1 cup cooked, shelled edamame
- lime, mint and cilantro for garnish
- 3 Tb Asian Fish Sauce
- 3 Tb brown sugar
- 6 Tb fresh lime juice
- 1 clove garlic finely grated
- 6 Thai Chiles thinly sliced or 2 serrano chiles
- 2 Tb Asian Fish Sauce
- 2 Tb rice vinegar
- 6 Tb fresh lime juice
- 2 Tb soy sauce or tamari
- 1 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
- 5-6 Tb creamy peanut butter
- 1-2 Tb brown sugar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- pinch cayenne
Ingredients
For the Sauce
For the Peanut Dressing
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- : In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.
- Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Set aside.
- Combine ingredients in a small serving bowl, making sure to dissolve the sugar. Let sit for 15 minutes to let the flavor shine.
- Next fold in red pepper, cabbage, carrots, cilantro and mint into the quinoa. Add sauce to quinoa. Drizzle entire bowl with dressing.
- Garnish with peanuts and green onions. Serve chilled or at room temperature with lime wedges, if desired.
