Thai-Style Rice Salad w/Peanut Sauce

July 18, 2016

This bright and fresh salad recipe is like a secret weapon when you need something quick and easy for dinner, or when you have a little extra rice to use up. You can also chop all of the ingredients and components several days in advance and pull them together for make-ahead lunches mid-week. To refresh the rice, simply add a bit of hot water and rice vinegar and mix well. The peanut sauce can be thinned to your liking with water to use as a salad dressing. We love to make a colorful salad with all of the ingredients listed below, but you can pull together whatever you have on hand and readily available.

Thai-Style Rice Salad with Peanut Sauce
inspired by the recipe for Mediterranean Rice Salad in The Feed Zone Cookbook.

For the peanut sauce:

1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1 small garlic clove
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tsp (packed) light brown sugar
1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Affix the blade in the bowl of a food processor and, with the motor running, add all of the ingredients and blend until smooth, without any lumps. If a more loose texture is desired (like for a salad dressing) add water by the tablespoon until its to your liking. Refrigerate until you're ready to use it!

for the salad:

Assemble the following ingredients. Depending on how you like your salad, and what you'd like in it, you may want more of this or that. Adjust as necessary.

spinach
1/2 green papaya, shredded
cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
green beans, chopped roughly
1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
2-4 cups of cooked sticky rice
rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, additional lime juice, to taste
1/4 cup each chopped basil, mint and cilantro
roasted + salted peanuts
limes, quartered
sautéed tofu, shrimp or grilled chicken, if you like
Toss the cooked rice with rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil and lime juice to taste. Scoop the rice into bowls, and top with the vegetables to your liking. Sprinkle with chopped herbs and toasted peanuts and drizzle with peanut sauce dressing. Serve and enjoy!

For more recipes and inspiration, check out the entire Feed Zone Cookbook collection!