Thai Salad with Peanut Satay Sauce

This Thai-inspired peanut satay salad is the perfect recipe to prepare for the week ahead when you are looking for something light, easy, flavoursome and packed with nourishing goodness.

Serves: 4-6

INGREDIENTS

SALAD:

• 2 cups chopped greens (we used a mesclun mix)

• 1 green capsicum, thinly sliced

• 1 red capsicum, thinly sliced

• 1 orange capsicum, thinly sliced

• 1 yellow capsicum, thinly sliced

• 1-2 cucumbers, finely chopped

• 1-2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

• 1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped*

• 1/2 head baby radicchio (option to substitute [sub] with red cabbage)

• 1 bunch mint leaves, chopped*

• 1 bunch coriander leaves, chopped*

• 4-5 Tbs sesame seeds

• 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds (option to sub with chopped roasted peanuts)**

SATAY SAUCE:

• 1/2 cup 100% natural creamy peanut butter (at room temp)

• 2-3 Tablespoon (Tbs) lime juice

• 2-3 Tbs maple syrup (adjust the sweetness as you go)

• 1 Tbs rice vinegar (optional)

• 1-2 teaspoons (tsp) soy sauce

• 3 Tbs peanut oil (option to omit and just add more water to achieve desired consistency)

• 3 Tbs water (+ more to thin)

• 1.5 Tbs ginger, minced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced***

• optional: 1 tsp dried chilli flakes or powdered chilli

OPTIONAL SERVINGS

• Steamed white or jasmine rice

• finely chopped fresh Thai chilies

• Additional nuts or seeds of choice

• Fresh lime wedges

INSTRUCTIONS

1. If you would like to enjoy this salad with rice, cook the rice while you prepare the rest of the salad.

2. Wash, prepare and chop all salad ingredients, add to a large mixing bowl and combine. Set aside.

3. Add all sauce ingredients to a food processor and pulse to create a homogenous mixture

4. If you would like to warm this sauce, transfer the mixture to a small saucepan and heat over low-medium for ~5-7 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Note: if the sauce is too thick for your liking feel free to thin it out with some more water or oil, or a combination of the two.

NOTES:

* If you plan on preparing this recipe in advance hold off on adding the fresh herbs and the spring onions until you are ready to eat the salad. This will help to preserve the colour, texture, aroma and flavour of your ingredients.

** I personally love almonds so I chose to use these in the recipe and this was what was available in the pantry but feel free to swap these out for more peanuts or your favourite nuts and seeds. The creamy crunch of nuts provides a great texture and flavour enhancement to this recipe.

*** If possible use roasted garlic for this recipe. (Roasting enhances the flavour profile of garlic, offering a robust, rich, creamy sweetness that can even be enjoyed on its own or spread on a piece of bread) flavour that If you do not have the time to roast garlic in advance you might like to sauté the garlic in oil to release the bitterness and astringency that is often associated with raw garlic. Alternatively, you can use garlic powder for a milder flavour.