A Big Salad for Supper Goes to Southeast Asia

Monday, March 24, 2014

Welcome! I’m currently working on my second book, so my blog posts come less frequently than I’d like. For more regular updates on Cooking and Eating the P.K. Way with daily food porn, links to recipes, and insights on current nutrition news, please like my page on Facebook. Thanks for reading!

An inadvertent salad theme has emerged on my blog these past few weeks. Of course, it’s not unusual. I am a salad fiend, as my regular readers well know, and am always anxious to share the love. And when you eat salad as often as I, getting creative with global flavors keeps things interesting.

Sexy, even.

There are a number of things needed for salad to take the starring role at your dinner table, however. Ingredients like beans, nuts, and so forth all help and are discussed in my “Spring into Salad!” post here. Today’s salad puts some of these ideas to work in a supper-sized version of a simple Thai salad that gets additional protein and yum from pan-seared tofu, avocado, and a hard-cooked egg. Red pepper and scallions add flavor and color and all lie atop a bed of glorious salad greens like spinach and kale. The traditional peanut dressing is key, and the recipe can be found here.

Not only is this salad super tasty, but it’s a real boon to your health in all of its plant-based goodness. It also has a lower impact on the environment than carnivorous choices. It’s perfect for Meatless Monday—or any day—so grab your dinner plate, fill it with greens, and pile on ingredients that make you happy. Don’t forget to toss on a few peanuts for garnish and crunch, too.

And by all means do not forgo the dressing. It’s what makes the salad so sensational (and will help you feel full). This zesty salad sauce has just enough body to hang on to the lettuces but isn’t at all gloppy. It’s spicy-sweet flavor can go as hot as you like, or not at all. Sure, this creamy vinaigrette adds calories, but this is dinner, after all, and the fat comes from heart-healthy unsaturated fatty acids like those found in peanut butter and peanut oil. (For more on my love of peanut butter and its health impacts, click here).

Beautiful to look at, too, eh? Perhaps like a lovely bloom growing in the tropical climate of Thailand?

Well, who knows. I don’t recall seeing any flower that looked like that in Koh Samui or Phuket, but, regardless, enjoy!