Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Sweet & Spicy Thai Coconut-Peanut Dressing


I was down to my last fresh goodies before I go shopping again and pondering how I would make my salad for dinner. Spring lettuce mix, carrots, celery, purple cabbage, and, hmm. apples. And yes, you guessed it, ANOTHER salad dressing recipe! As many salads as I eat, I need to keep it interesting! So most of the time, I start each salad fresh. And I only make enough dressing to last me for about 2-3 salads. This works because one, they are fresh and won't last as long as the store bought ones, and two, I like to change things up frequently and I love getting creative and trying new recipes!



So, I was thinking of adding a sweet, crispy, organic gala apple to my salad since I needed to use them up soon. I started thinking of one of my favorite snacks, which is apples with peanut butter. I have this container of freshly made, pure, natural peanut butter with no sugar or salt added, from the market, it is absolutely delicious. Then I was reminded of a spicy apple salad I had at my favorite Thai food place. So there it was, tonight I would attempt a mildly spicy, peanut dressing!


It is definitely something I will be repeating. Besides being delicious on salad, it would be wonderful on noodles, aka Pad Thai, one of my favorite dishes or even as a tasty dip for celery or apples! Anyhow, here it is!

Dressing:
4 tbsp (heaping) natural peanut butter (unsweetened)
2 tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or other GF soy sauce)
1/4 cup Thai coconut meat
1/4 cup Thai coconut water (or more depending on desired consistency)
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp of pure grade b maple syrup or other natural sweetener (coconut nectar, or honey- not vegan)
1/4 tsp dried ginger or a 1/4" knob of fresh
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
1/4 tsp paprika

Salad:
2-3 handfuls of spring mix
1 small carrot diced
1 stalk of celery sliced thin
1 gala apple, skin on, diced
handful of shredded purple cabbage
1 sprig of fresh basil leaves torn

Directions:
Add all the dressing ingredients to the blender and puree until it's super smooth and creamy! This is a mildly spicy dressing. Dressing is enough for 2 large salads or 4 smaller side salads. Small mason jars are excellent for storing left over dressing! This recipe is not "fully raw" since my peanut butter was made from toasted peanuts. But you could easily substitute that for a raw peanut butter or any other type of nut butter! Also, if you can't find any fresh Thai coconuts, then you can substitute the coconut meat & water for organic canned coconut milk or a nut milk like almond.

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