I devour recipe books like most people read through the Oprah Book Club. I relish all of the different flavor combinations that comprise regional foods and on occasion I like to make up my own recipes from the most awesome parts of other recipes. I love peanut sauce in Thai restaurants, so I modified a recipe I found online to include hot water, thus creating a “dressing” consistency suitable for a salad instead of satay duty, paired it with a few of my fave Asian salad ingredients including the beloved soba noodle, dropped in a spicy protein and surprise a delightfully filling salad. I would consider this one of my best salad efforts.
Peanut Dressing:
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup (brown) rice vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
- drizzle of toasted sesame oil
- big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4-1/2 cup hot water
Salad:
- 1 package soba noodles prepared according to package instructions
- 2 carrots, peeled, grated
- 4 radishes, chopped
- 1 head napa cabbage, shredded
- 1/4 C crushed peanuts or cashews
- a handful of bean spouts per salad
Mix dressing ingredients together in the food processor, let set 10-20 minutes to develop in flavor intensity, reserve 1/4 C dressing for topping salad. Shred cabbage, toss with chopped radishes and grated carrot, mound in 3-4 salad bowls. Toss soba noodles in the peanut sauce until coated nicely, divide and add to cabbage salad, top with 1/4 C reserved dressing and crushed peanuts or cashews and fresh bean spouts. Serve immediately.
Pictured with salad ginger/garlic/soy marinated baked tofu (recipe below):
- 1 package extra firm tofu, drained, sliced in half (thickness wise) and pressed (after pressing 20-30 minutes, cut into pieces about the size of a pinky finger-sorry, that’s kinda gross!)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 C soy sauce
- 2 inches ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
Marinate tofu in mixture of the ingredients above for 30 minutes to overnight. Bake tofu on a foil lined, lightly greased, rimed baking sheet at 375 until firm in texture, turning every 5-10 minutes. Serve with salad.
