Thai-Peanut Salad

I have always had this obsession with peanut sauce and seriously find it to be one of the most delicious things! I discovered my love for peanut sauce when I ordered the Thai chicken wraps at Cheesecake factory. After I had those, I became obsessed with peanut sauce…which then led me to making my own peanut dressing. When making this dressing, I wanted to make sure that I focused on healthier ingredients or alternatives. I have realized through my education and nutrition work, that there are certain foods that I don’t want to give up. I have decided to enjoy them in moderation instead of completely eliminating them.

There is a lot of controversy over whether peanut butter is bad or good for you. The key thing I have learned, is that choosing the right type of peanut butter is the most important thing. Go organic! Organic peanut butter is not exposed to the types of pesticides and chemicals that commercial or conventional peanut butter is exposed to. So right there, you know you are already eating something better for you, because you are not consuming harmful chemicals. Whenever I talk to clients about canned foods or commercial peanut butter, I ask them how long they think those products have sat on the shelf in the grocery store. I then ask them to compare these products with organic products, which have much shorter expiration dates. Organic products do not contain chemicals that make them last longer…which is one of the many reasons why organic is truly better for you!

So if you are a peanut butter fan like me, focus on buying organic! Like I said, I am all about the healthy alternatives!

So…back to my Thai-Peanut salad! I packed the salad with a ton of plant foods and made it a power house salad. In a later post, I will take about the importance of getting a ton of different colored phytonutrients (plant based foods) in your daily diet. Colorful salads are the way to go! Below you will find all the ingredients I added, but feel free to add whatever vegetables you like. I also decided to add a couple pieces of chicken.

This salad is absolutely delicious. You can also use this sauce with stir-fry, lettuce wraps or whatever…because it is that good!

Excited to hear what you all think!

Peanut Dressing Ingredients:

-1/3 cup organic, creamy peanut butter

-3 tablespoons of pure, organic maple syrup

-2 tablespoons of lime juice

-1 ½ tablespoons rice wine vinegar

-1 teaspoon sesame oil

-1 ½ tablespoon soy sauce

-1 teaspoon sriracha,

-2 garlic cloves minced

-1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger

-2 tablespoons of water (add more if you want it to be less thick-up to you!)

*I actually doubled each of the amounts above, because I wanted leftovers.

Thai Salad Ingredients:

 -4 cups of kale

-1 ½ cup red cabbage

-1 ½ cup napa cabbage

-2 tablespoons greens onions, sliced

-1 large red tomato, chopped

-1 red bell paper, chopped

-1 cup bean sprouts

-1 cucumber sliced

-1/2 cup peanuts, chopped (based on your desires)

Directions for Peanut Sauce/dressing:

 1. In a small bowl, add the: peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, vinegar, sriracha, ginger, rice wine, garlic, maple syrup and water.

2. Whisk until combined well. Add more water if desired (will thin it out).

3. Add to salad!

Directions for Thai Salad:

 1. In a large bowl, add all the salad ingredients (listed above).

I hope you enjoy, because I sure did!