Quinoa salad with a Thai flair (almond, ginger, sesame, honey dressing)




Another experiment that turned out surprisingly awesome.

This recipe, inspired from a post from the Ambitious Kitchen blog, adheres to the principles of simple, quick, wholesome, complete and most importantly, easily customizable meal. Huge on flavor, color as well as taste, this will now be my go to template for the times I crave something deliciously different.

Dressing  (measurements are approximate - use these as a guide and adjust according to your tastes)\
  • Almond Butter, creamy (I prefer this to peanut butter, but PB will work great as well) - 3-4 tbsp
  • Honey - 1-2 tbsp
  • Ginger (finely grated): 1 tbsp (I added a bit more than this)
  • Soy Sauce (low sodium): 3 tbsp
  • Lemon juice: Per taste
  • Hot sauce (or use red chilli powder): per taste
  • Vinegar ( I used apple cider but any vinegar will do - or skip this and just use lemon/lime juice)
  • Sesame Oil, preferably cold pressed: 1 tsp (IMO, this is what gives the dish its signature flavor)

Salad
  • Quinoa (uncooked): 2 cups
  • Cabbage, diced small (preferably red, but I used green in this version): 1 cup
  • Bell pepper (red, green etc), diced: 1/2-3/4 cup
  • Carrots: 2-3 diced small
  • Green onion - diced (did not have on hand but would be delicious)
  • Cilantro, chopped - for garnish
  • Did not have the following but will add them next time
    • Edmame, chickpeas or tofu for protein
    • Roasted cashews for garnish (peanuts would work great as well)
    • Raisins

Secret Ingredient 
Recipe

  • Cook quinoa per instructions and cool
  • For the dressing, put almond butter and honey in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 20-30 sec. Add the rest of the ingredients (start off with a little at a time and add more of each as needed per taste) and stir until well mixed and creamy.
  • In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients for the salad and fold in the dressing.
  • Season with the secret ingredient and dig in :-)



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