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This week is another simple recipe. I’ve been so busy the last few weeks, complicated recipes are not going to happen. When I ran across this recipe for Crunchy Thai Peanut and Quinoa Salad from Cookie and Kate, I knew I had to adapt it. In our house I cannot go wrong with anything made with quinoa and of course, peanut butter. Tony LOVES peanut butter. That was one of the things he did not want to give up. He eats powdered peanut butter every day to get his peanut butter fix and save calories. We also like the flavors of Thailand. This recipe has a lot going for it, but needs a little help in the protein department and a boost in vitamin C along with lowering the sodium. The calories are very reasonable. Here are the original stats:
Here’s what I changed:
- I added a red bell pepper for vitamin C.
- I swapped the soy sauce for an ultra low sodium variety.
- I added unsalted peanuts instead of salted to reduce the sodium
- I added tempeh for crunch and protein.
Here are the final stats:
Here is the final recipe:
Crunchy Thai Peanut & Quinoa Salad
Serves 4
Salad
- 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 cups water
- 2 cups shredded purple cabbage
- 1 cup grated carrot
- 1 cup thinly sliced snow peas or sugar snap peas
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup thinly sliced green onion
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 of a 7.5 ounce package of tempeh, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped roasted and salted peanuts, for garnish
Peanut sauce
- ¼ cup smooth peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons ultra low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (I love ginger so I used 2 teaspoons)
- ½ lime, juiced (about 1 ½ tablespoons)
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa: First, rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh colander under running water. In a medium-sized pot, combine the rinsed quinoa and water. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and gently simmer the quinoa until it has absorbed all of the water. Remove the quinoa from heat, cover the pot and let it rest for 5 minutes. Uncover the pot and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Set it aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, make the peanut sauce: Whisk together the peanut butter and soy sauce until smooth (if this is difficult, microwave the mixture for up to 30 seconds to loosen it up). Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth. If the mixture seems too thick to toss into the salad, whisk in a bit of water to loosen it up.
- In a large serving bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, shredded cabbage, carrot, snow peas, tempeh, bell pepper, cilantro and green onion. Toss to combine, then pour in the peanut sauce. Toss again until everything it lightly coated in sauce. Divide into individual bowls and garnish with peanuts.
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